Today Google rolled out the Chrome 74 web browser for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The updated browser includes a reduced motion experience, private class fields in JavaScript, CSS transition events, and new feature policy APIs. And for the Windows 10 version of Chrome 74, it includes a dark mode — which works similarly to the dark mode that was included in Chrome 73 for Macs.
Chrome will automatically activate a dark mode theme if dark mode is enabled on Windows 10. And so Chrome will look similar to when the browser is in Incognito Mode. The white background on Chrome will also turn to dark gray and the tab backgrounds will turn dark blue. The incognito mode will have a text badge next to the profile icon to distinguish itself while in dark mode.
Another noteworthy feature is that Chrome 74 will prevent pages that are being closed from opening a popup. While the built-in popup blocker prevents it from happening, the action is now completely blocked.
Google added a reduced motion sickness feature. This makes it easier on the eyes for people have issues while looking at websites that have motion effects, parallax scrolling, and zooming. Chrome 74 also have prefers-reduced-motion — which allows for websites to honor when an operating system is set to limit motion effects, according to VentureBeat.
“While many users enjoy such animations, some users dislike them because they feel distracted or slowed down from them. In the worst case, users may even suffer from motion sickness as if it were a real life experience, so for these users reducing animations is a medical necessity,” said Google senior developer advocate Dr. Thomas Steiner in a blog post.
Chrome 74 for Android also includes performance improvements. And the Data Saver feature has been renamed to Lite Mode.
Note: This article may be updated as more information is learned.
