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Chrome

Chrome is About To Look a Bit Different (theverge.com) 72

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Chrome on the desktop is about to get a new look. From a report: Google's widely used browser is getting an update based on its Material You design language in the coming weeks, and in this case, that will include refreshed icons with "a focus on legibility" and new color palettes that "better complement your tabs and toolbar," according to a blog post from Chrome VP Parisa Tabriz.
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Chrome is About To Look a Bit Different More

Chrome is About To Look a Bit Different

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  • Great... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by erp_consultant ( 2614861 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @11:30AM (#63829898)

    Now if they could just include an option to disable all the calling home crap and reporting my every move and I might consider using it again.

    Until then I'm sticking with Firefox and Brave.

    • Re:Great... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @11:38AM (#63829928)

      Brave... The browser for the privacy conscious that also runs a crypto scam... I trust these guy's privacy-respecting claims as much as trust crypto.

      • They give you crypto for viewing ads. Not sure how that's a scam. Might not be a fruitful endeavor, but scam is a bit much.

        The only other "scandal" is the affiliate links drama, which is a monetization issue rather than a privacy issue.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by znrt ( 2424692 )

        i don't like the brave rewards thing and have no use for their wallet and the whole web3 shenanigans, but i wouldn't call that a crypto scam.

        it's (yet another) new approach to monetize the browser and find a spot where it can provide value and relevance. i do not really like where this seems to be going (and i don't think it will work in the long run) but this is a legitimate strategy and they are pretty open about it, hardly a scam. in the meantime ... it's just the best browser around and they have made i

        • it's (yet another) new approach to monetize the browser

          It seems like that wouldn't be necessary if Web standards weren't so byzantine. At least some of the components of a browser are relatively straightforward components that anybody could integrate--JPEG library, etc. Even JavaScript is something that can be broken out. I'm guessing it's CSS, how scripts interact with the DOM, page rendering to the pixel rules, etc. that make it something that requires a huge team.

          I'm not sure who to blame for this,

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by znrt ( 2424692 )

            yeah, css was designed with 80s actual typesetters in mind, not web designers, and its integration with html is especially bizarre. then it was supposed to be semantic, as in "describe the interface for this particular content based on its meaning" (as in article, hyperlink, topic, price, ...) which was really a cool idea but was never really understood by web developers and gurus alike, and pretty soon was used to define aberrations like "describe this as a 4x3 grid holding random content" as opposed to "t

      • I don't use the brave rewards thing. What's important is that it is opt in, not the default setting, and disabling it is clearly labelled and easy to find.

        I see people posting that the new version of Chrome has some sort of opt out for advertising. If that's the case then it's a step forward. But being a closed source application you really have no idea what it is doing even if you turn off the ads. Same goes for Edge.

        Google and Microsoft don't have a very good track record of being trustworthy so if they a

    • Re:Great... (Score:4, Informative)

      by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @01:08PM (#63830176) Homepage

      What they're actually doing probably has less to do with the visual refresh, and more to do with ADDING more calling-home "features."

      • What they're actually doing probably has less to do with the visual refresh, and more to do with ADDING more calling-home "features."

        Why would the things be related at all? Chrome releases very frequent updates, and they can add "calling-home features" in any of them, at will. It's not like UI changes will hide anything from people looking at the codebase or examining the binaries, either. Your comment makes no sense.

        • There's no technical relationship, of course. But whenever a politician, or a company "doing evil," wants to take attention off of their problems, they often create a diversion, a distraction, from what they're really up to.

          • There's no technical relationship, of course. But whenever a politician, or a company "doing evil," wants to take attention off of their problems, they often create a diversion, a distraction, from what they're really up to.

            Cynicism is a popular way to attempt to look smart.

            • You must be young. Cynicism of this type is borne out of a lot of years of experience. Marketers, and politicians, actually do think this way.

              • You must be young. Cynicism of this type is borne out of a lot of years of experience. Marketers, and politicians, actually do think this way.

                Blanket cynicism is as likely to be wrong as to be right. You have to look at the specifics and see what actually makes sense. As I pointed out, yours does not in this case.

                As for age, it's in my slashdot bio.

    • Re:Great... (Score:5, Informative)

      by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Thursday September 07, 2023 @03:33PM (#63830474) Journal

      Now if they could just include an option to disable all the calling home crap and reporting my every move and I might consider using it again.

      They're doing better than that, they're eliminating lots of data collection by Google and blocking others from doing it, too. This is what the Topics [google.com] stuff being rolled out is all about, to enable them to shut down third-party cookies and all of the cross-site data hoovering the cookies enable (including by Google) without destroying the targeted advertising that is the foundational economic model of the web (and of Google).

      The basic concept is that your browser, on your device, figures out what your interests are because your browser obviously sees all the places you go. But it won't report any of that detail to Google, or to anyone else, and by blocking third-party cookies, Chrome will make it very difficult for anyone to compile that information about you. Then, Chrome will tell web sites "This carefully-anonymized user is interested in, for example, GPUs, sailboats and animated movies". If there are any topics it deduces your interest in that you don't want it to send to sites, you can block those. If there are any you do want it to send, you can enter those. But it all happens on your own machine, and no database anywhere collects a bunch of data about you.

      This is actually good for Google, because having user data is a big liability. It subjects them to endless streams of warrants and subpoenas (and, no, law enforcement does not pay; courts just compel companies to provide it), it increases the risks of data breaches in which Google might be liable for the leakage of user data, and it makes people mad that Google collects a lot of information about them. So Google would prefer not to have that information, if there's a way they can deliver targeted ads without having it. So Chrome is attempting to build a way to target ads without collecting user data.

      Chrome will undoubtedly still phone home to report telemetry if you allow it, but that's carefully controlled to avoid impacting privacy, and is just to provide the Chrome developers with data about how well their product is functioning, data that can't really be obtained from user reports or product testing.

      Until then I'm sticking with Firefox and Brave.

      Sure, use what you like. Think twice about adblocking, though. Adblocking is fine as long as only a few people do it (I do, but I think I should probably stop), but if everyone did it the web would cease to function as it does. Even now, the moderate growth of adblocking has caused many sites that have sufficiently-valuable content to throw up paywalls, where just a few years ago they were fine with free access because they could get paid by ads.

      Assuming this post gets read, I'm sure I'll get a fair number of "screw them, I ain't looking at ads!" replies, and I can certainly relate to the feeling. As I said, I use an adblocker. On the other hand, that's an emotional reaction, and anyone who seriously thinks about the issue will realize that without ads most of the Internet will disappear, either behind paywalls, or completely. Very few sites can survive on donations like Wikipedia does.

      Some people will probably even say "that's fine, I liked the web when all the pages were nerd projects on basement servers", and I suppose if they really mean it, fine. I remember those days fondly myself. But I think the vast majority of us value the services we get for free on the web, all operated by profit-making enterprises because you just can't run high-quality, feature-rich services for free.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by khchung ( 462899 )

        But it won't report any of that detail to Google

        Hahahahahaha!

        Oh, you might be interested in some bridges I have...

        • But it won't report any of that detail to Google

          Hahahahahaha!

          Oh, you might be interested in some bridges I have...

          You apparently didn't actually read my comment.

          • I read it but I agree with the parent. If you think this stops primary data collection on users then I have bridge to sell you too (please buy both of ours). Google's primary ad forte is that they aggregate data across devices and accounts. Your view of how Chrome's proposal works for 3rd parties is correct, but the premise that this somehow will stop Google collecting your data, or that Google, a company whose core business is the handling of your private data suddenly considers it such a huge liability is

            • Google doesn't "suddenly" consider data collection a liability. It has always been a liability. One that was worth taking on for the targeted advertising benefits it provides... but if there's a way to reap those benefits without the liability, that's an enormous win.

  • You Need To Disable The New Data Collection (Score:5, Informative)

    by WankerWeasel ( 875277 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @11:37AM (#63829922)

    There is new data gathering and sharing for advertisers in the latest version and you should disabled it. To do so, go to:

    Settings > Privacy and Security > Ad Privacy

    Go in to each of the three options (Ad Topics, Site-Suggested Ads, Ad Measurement) and toggle them off.

    • Thanks for the detail on that.
      Done.

    • There is new data gathering and sharing for advertisers in the latest version and you should disabled it. To do so, go to:

      Settings > Privacy and Security > Ad Privacy

      Go in to each of the three options (Ad Topics, Site-Suggested Ads, Ad Measurement) and toggle them off.

      In a world where people mattered even the tiniest little bit, it would be required by mandate, by law, by god, by something, that shit like that is auto-disabled with, at most, an optional "would you like to have us ramrod your data every which way" prompt that can only legally be presented once when the program is first launched after the setting is put in place. Us having to play whack-a-mole every few days trying to find all the new hidden "please don't track me" features isn't really working for anybody

    • Yeah, I got that on both of my work computers.

      "Hello! We are making the web so much more secure and useful for you. Would you like us to broker ads for you more accurately?"

      How about I just keep ublock origin chugging and you fuck off, Chrome.

      • I'll do one better - I'm routing all the DNS queries on my network through AdGuard Home [adguard.com] so it works on every damn thing on my network, with blocklists that are updated regularly. No need to root a phone, or even worry about devices where rooting is not an option. You aren't getting there unless you embed your own DNS server setting and client. And if I found you've done that, I'll blackhole that traffic through deep packet inspection at the router and start looking for a replacement browser.

        Fuck your ads

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      I didn't see this "Ad Privacy" in updated v116 in macOSes until I restarted and then saw the prompt about it with its settings option.

  • Still missing the most important UI element (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mononymous ( 6156676 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @11:47AM (#63829954)

    Firefox has an option to bring back the menu bar. First thing I do on a new profile.

    • Ditto, and the title bar. Also, I set it to not close the window with the last tab, and not trim URLs.

  • I've got a site that looks fuzzy in Chrome, but not Firefox. Not mine and it's been this way for a decade plus now. I've tried changing things and gave up.

  • Material Who? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Fly Swatter ( 30498 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @11:55AM (#63829972) Homepage
    Because if it was really about you (at least me) buttons would still look like buttons and the drop down menu would still look like at least a button with 3 dots in it (or maybe three seashells, I could never figure that out).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sconeu ( 64226 )

      That's OK, Stallone couldn't figure out the seashells either.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sinij ( 911942 )

      Because if it was really about you (at least me) buttons would still look like buttons ...

      The resulting mass unemployment of UI designers would likely cause recession in California.

    • Because if it was really about you (at least me) buttons would still look like buttons

      Buttons do look like buttons as defined by the modern material flow design guide of what a button looks like. Gotta stay up to date with the trends.

  • Still not installing Chrome.

  • "Material You" is "Fuck you" (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Cyberax ( 705495 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @01:02PM (#63830162)
    "Material You" is another "Fuck you". Just look at what it did to Google Groups.

  • Epoch-making (Score:3)

    by RUs1729 ( 10049396 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @01:06PM (#63830172)
    I will most certainly always vividly remember where I was and what I was up to when I learned about such momentous tour-de-force, which is bound to change the way things are done irreversibly and forever.

  • pointless change. Gittoff my lawn, Chrome! You think you're Windows or something?

  • Yay for low contrast with pastel colors! (Score:3)

    by caseih ( 160668 ) on Thursday September 07, 2023 @01:20PM (#63830216)

    I can't wait to see it in all its low-contrast, pastel, material-you glory. And it's sure going to fit in great with native apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux. And with extension manifest v3 we can finally see the web as the web site designers intended, complete with ads.

    Mozilla has their work cut out for them to clone this new look.

  • Now Chrome won't cut and scratch, harming your gentle skin. Trust yourself to Chrome. Fall upon our rounded playground edges and loll in our fisher-price ball pond.

    "I feel so protected with Chrome(tm) brand peace of mind. I can't go back. Too harsh." --Cybernet Man

    "Now that all the corners are blunted, I can give my all data without worry of irritation and bother." --Bloggrl42

    "I want all of your mind." --St. Vincent.

  • Good news from Google: The intrusive privacy-violating malware we push on y'all looks prettier now! Yay!

  • Do I really have to use Edge if I want vertical tabs in Chrome?

  • Oh no! Mozilla will copy it and break the Firefox UI once again...

  • Change for the sake of change.

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