Google Chrome is a closed source web browser developed by Google, although derived from an open source project called "Chromium".
The launch of the new version of the popular web browser "Google Chrome 106", version in which several important changes have been made and of which several of them are focused on Android, as well as the elimination of some features that were present in previous versions.
In addition to innovations and bug fixes, 20 vulnerabilities have been fixed in the new version and as such no critical issues have been identified that would allow bypassing all levels of browser protection and executing code on the system outside of the sandbox environment.
As part of the Vulnerability Bounty Program for the current version, Google paid out 16 prizes worth $38,500 (one each of $9,000, $7,500, $7,000, $5,000, $4,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000).
Main novelties of Chrome 106
In this new version of the browser that is presented, it is highlighted that for desktop build users, the Prerender2 engine is enabled by default to pre-render recommendation content in the Omnibox address bar. Proactive rendering complements the previously available ability to load the most clickable recommendations without waiting for the user to click.
Another change that stands out in this new version of Chrome 106 is that "Server Push" has been disabled by default, which is defined in the HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 standards and allows the server to send resources to the client without waiting for them to be explicitly requested. The reasons given for the end of support are that the implementation of the technology becomes too complicated when there are simpler and equally effective alternatives, such as the tag , the HTTP 103 response, and the WebTransport protocol –
In addition to that, also disabled ability to use non-ASCII characters in specified domains in the cookie header (for IDN domains, the domains must be specified in punycode format). The change aligns the browser with the requirements of RFC 6265bis and the behavior implemented in Firefox.
Plus clearer labels are suggested to identify screens in multi-monitor setups. Similar labels can be displayed in permission dialogs to open a window on an external display. For example, instead of the external display number ("External Display 1"), the monitor model name ("HP Z27n") will now be displayed.
On the part of the improvements in the android version, we can find that in browsing history page provides support for “Journey” mechanism, which summarizes past activity by aggregating information about previous searches and pages visited. When entering keywords in the address bar, if they were previously used in queries, it is proposed to continue the search from the interrupted position.
On Android 11 devices, the ability to lock a page opened in incognito mode is provided after switching to another app. Authentication is required to continue browsing after being blocked. By default, blocking is disabled and requires activation in the privacy settings.
When trying download files from incognito mode, an additional confirmation prompt is provided to save the file and a warning that other users of the device can see the downloaded file as it will be saved in the download manager area.
As for the changes for developers, the following stand out:
- Stopped exposing the chrome.runtime API to all sites. This API is now only provided with browser plugins connected to it.
- Several new APIs have been added to the Origin Trials mode, it implies the ability to work with the specified API from applications downloaded from localhost or 127.0.0.1, or after registering and receiving a special token that is valid for a limited time for a specific site .
- Improvements have been made to the web developer tools.
- The Sources panel now has the ability to group files by source. Improved stack trace for asynchronous operations.
- You can now automatically ignore known third-party scripts during debugging.
- Added the ability to hide ignored files in menus and panels. Improved work with the call stack in the debugger.
- Added a new interactions track to the performance dashboard to visualize interaction with the page and identify potential UI responsiveness issues.
Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about it, you can consult the details in the following link.
How to update or install Google Chrome in Ubuntu and derivatives?
For those who are interested in being able to update to the new version of the browser on their systems, they can do so by following the instructions that we share below. The first thing you should do is check if the update is already available, for this you have to go to chrome: // settings / help and the notification that there is an update will appear.
In case it is not so you must close your browser and you are going to open a terminal and type:
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
You open your browser again and it must have already been updated or the update notification will appear.
In case you want to install the browser or choose to download the deb package to update, we must go to the web page of the browser to obtain the deb package and to be able to install it in our system with the help of the package manager or from the terminal. The link is this.
Once the package is obtained, we only have to install with the following command:
sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb