Google Chrome 74 Released for Windows, macOS, and Linux; Dark Mode Arrives on Windows

Google has released Chrome 74 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS, and Android (beta). The latest release brings a number of new features apart from quite a few bug fixes. Probably the biggest highlight of Chrome 74 is support for dark mode on Windows. After arriving on the Mac last month, support for dark mode in Chrome is finally available on Windows. Google Chrome currently has over 1 billion users worldwide.

While Chrome 73 added dark mode on the Mac, Windows users had to wait for the next release. However, Google Chrome still doesn't let switch to the dark mode manually. Just like on the Mac, if you want to use dark mode on Chrome 74 in Windows, you'll need to switch to dark mode via settings in Windows.

Once you switch to dark mode in Windows, Chrome 74 will automatically switch to dark mode. This can be a bit irritating for users who'd rather have some apps run on dark mode while the operating system works normally.

Another significant improvement, included in Chrome 74, is the browser's ability to prevent webpages from automatically throwing pop-ups at you when you're closing or opening a page. Effectively, this disables web pages from exploiting the window.open() API to open a new page when it unloads.

Chrome 74 will also disable drive-by downloads in sandboxed iframes. This will prevent malicious websites from trying to distribute malware via shady ads on web pages.

Google has also released Chrome 74 for Android in beta. The latest release brings a number of bug fixes and new improvements. Chrome 74 beta on Android will help reduce motion sickness by limiting motion effects. The browser will ensure websites follow Android's reduce motion directive, and prevent motion sickness during motion effects.

Apart from this, Chrome 74 beta on Android has also renamed Data Saver mode as 'Lite mode'. The new data-saving feature is currently available only on Chrome for Android. Lite mode will help reduce mobile data usage by compressing web pages. Google says it can also help improve page load time.

To enable Lite mode on Chrome for Android, go to Settings and scroll down to the Lite mode toggle, and turn it on. In case you're already using Data Saver mode, Lite mode will be automatically turned on for you.

Google will reveal more details on how the new Lite mode works via a white paper. Besides, Google is also killing the old Chrome Data Saver desktop extension.

Chrome 74 is now available for desktop users on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. Chrome 74 beta for Android is also available on the Play Store. Stable releases for Chrome 74 on both Android and iOS are expected to roll out shortly. Google has listed all the security fixes and improvements that come with Chrome 74 here.