Chrome 97 is Now Available, Here's What to Expect

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 04 January 2022, 05:01 pm

Chrome 97 has officially launched today and the release brings new and better tools for removing all stored website data, better-looking web apps, and better zoom controls for the mobile version of Chrome.

Chrome 97 Update

The Chrome 97 has made some changes to the site's Privacy and Security settings. You can now easily delete all of the data that Chrome stores, according to HowtoGeek.

In the past, you could only remove individual cookies. The new settings can be found via Settings, and go to Security and Privacy, then go to Site Settings, choose View Permissions and click on Data Stored Across Sites.

New Look of Web Apps

The area that has prevented web apps from looking like native apps is the site's top app bar. Chrome 97 now lets web apps to use the top app bar space for elements like navigation buttons, colors, and search bars. You can also use it by installing the web app for the demo website that looks more presentable.

Also Read: Google Chrome: Update Your Browser NOW Because of These 5 Zero Day UAF Threats for Desktop

Per-Site Zoom is Now Available on Mobile

For years now, Chrome's desktop version can remember the zoom settings of the user for each website. If a user zooms into 120% on a website, Chrome will keep that zoom setting, and it will not change until the user changes it. Chrome 97 has a feature called Flag, and it is for the mobile version, so you can do the same thing.

The flag feature can be found at Chrome, then go to Flag, and select Enable Accessibility Page Zoom. As soon as it is enabled, you can adjust the zoom size by simply tapping the lock icon seen in the address bar.

Choose Zoom and adjust the size to your liking. Chrome will immediately remember it when you visit it, according to LifeHacker.

HDR Support for CSS

Chrome 94 began testing the CSS ability to detect if your screen supports any HDR content. The feature is now in Chrome 97. Web developers can enable HDR content without affecting the experience for those who do not have HDR displays.

New Features

Google has revealed every version of Chrome in the last four weeks, which means that massive features added are not as frequent, according to Android Police.

There is still a lot that is brewing on the surface. Users interested in knowing more can check out the changes on Google's developer site and on Chromium blog.

The feature that were introduced lately is the feature policy for Keyboard API, as Chrome 97 has a new keyboard map value that allows you to list the feature policy.

The Keyboard Get Layout Map is a feature that helps identify a key that is pressed for different keyboard layouts like French and English.

The auto-expand Details Elements allows you to search for closed details elements, and they can now be linked easily.

The hidden elements will also automatically expand when you go to Find in Page. You can also go to Scroll to Text Fragment, and the element fragment navigation will be used automatically.

The Chrome 97 also includes Support Calc where it only accepts CSS math functions to resolve numbers that can be used in areas that only accept integer.

Update Google Chrome

Chrome will immediately install the update on the device as soon as it is available. To check for the update and install them if needed, just click on the three-dot menu icon and click on Help and choose About Google Chrome.

In October 2021, Chrome users were asked to update the site due to vulnerabilities that were detected.

In the same month, another Chrome update was needed due to the features that were added on the site.