Chrome 90 Rolling Out With AV1 Codec for Optimised Video Conferencing, More Improvements

Chrome 90 stable version has been released by Google for its mobile and desktop browser. The new update to Chrome brings about a few changes and additions. Notably, the updated browser now supports AV1 codec for optimising video conferencing with WebRTC and the adoption of HTTPS over HTTP protocol. Other changes and addition to the browser include the renaming of Feature Policy to Permissions Policy, Decorative Shadow DOM, the ability to hide Reading List and preventing overflow using overflow: clip.

Through a post on its Chrome Developers blog, Google detailed all the new features that are being rolled out with the latest Chrome 90 update. As mentioned, the most notable change in the update is the addition of AV1 codec that optimises video conferencing with WebRTC. The new codec will improve compression efficiency and reduces bandwidth consumption along with improving video quality. Also, it improves connectivity on low bandwidth connections and screen sharing has become more efficient when compared to VP9.

Chrome will now redirect all websites to use HTTPS protocol instead of HTTP for all webpages, when not specified by the users. HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol and the S suffix stands for Secure. An HTTPS protocol is preferable as it protects all communication and information that the users' computer may relay while browsing the internet. Additionally. Chrome will let users hide the Reading List without using chrome://flags. It can now be done by right-clicking on the Bookmark Bar and at the end, the drop-down menu shows the option of Show Reading List at the bottom.

One of the major improvements to Chrome 90 is CSS overflow. Using overflow: clip will help developers prevent any kind of scrolling within the CSS box. Alongside, Feature Policy API will now be renamed to Permission Policy. This allows users to selectively enable, disable, and modify the behaviour of certain APIs and web features in the browser. Another new feature is the addition of Decorative Shadow DOM that helps in better rendering of server-side rendering of HTML.

Why did LG give up on its smartphone business? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (starting at 22:00), we talk about the new co-op RPG shooter Outriders. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.