Articles about web browser

Microsoft -- yes, Microsoft -- is set to address an issue that has plagued the look of text in Chrome running on Windows 10 and Windows 11. While this is not a problem that affects everyone, there are large numbers of people who have long-complained about strange-looking fonts in Google's web browser.

The font troubles stem from a font rending incompatibility which Microsoft is finally getting around to fixing. The ClearType Tuner of Windows is ignored by Chrome, but Microsoft's tweaks mean that the browser rendering will be noticeably improved.

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Those in the know are aware that switching Chrome into Incognito Mode does not mean your browsing is a secret -- but many people assume that the browsing mode offers greater levels of privacy than it actually does.

Now Google has admitted as much. The company is updating its description of Incognito Mode in response to a lawsuit. The revised wording makes it clear that Google continues to collect data about user activity in Incognito Mode.

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With, as yet, nothing by way of an explanation, Microsoft has decided to rename the iOS and Android versions of its Edge web browser.

Now known as Microsoft Edge: AI Browser the change of name does not appear to have been accompanied by any significant changes. The mobile web browser does, like so many Microsoft products, include its fair share of artificial intelligence-powered features as the company continues to bet big on the importance of AI.

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Google is in the process of rolling out a trio of important updates to Chrome, kicking off with an improvement to Safety Check. This security feature will now run automatically in the background, allowing for proactive alerts about security issues that need attention.

Other updates include improvements to tab groups that makes it possible to access them on other computers, and enhancements to Memory Saver. But the company also hints at big plans for 2024, with the promise of "smarter and more helpful features" powered its Gemini AI model.

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Google is preparing to launch a new Chrome feature which will give users the ability to hide their IP address. Previously known as Gnatcatcher, the feature is now called IP Protection and makes use of proxies to help prevent online tracking.

IP Protection is described as "a privacy proxy that anonymizes IP addresses for qualifying traffic". One of its primary aims is to limit the possibility for fingerprinting as a means of tracking users online, which is something that has become increasingly common as steps are taken to block, and even kill off, third-party cookies.

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One web browser spying on another? Surely not! However, if you are using both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, Microsoft's browser could be grabbing all of your browsing history from Chrome every time you launch it.

If you decided to jump from Firefox to Chrome, from Edge to Firefox, from Opera to Edge or any other combination, you will probably have taken advantage of the option to import browsing history, saved passwords and so on. But you likely don’t want this cross-browser communication to continue indefinitely. Here’s how to check whether this sneaky data swapping is happening in the background and how to stop it if it is.

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Your browsing history can be very revealing; there are countless reasons for not wanting a list of the sites you have visited to be seen by others. While it can be hard to maintain complete privacy, there are steps you can take on a local basis -- such as simply deleting your browsing history.

It is easy to see the deletion of browsing history as using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and for a very long time it was very much an "all or nothing" approach. Over time, Google and others introduced options to limit how much browsing history should be deleted, and now Chrome users are being offered even more fine-grained controls.

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Browser tabs were introduced to help fix the problem of having too many browser windows open at once; now instead of being overrun with browser windows, we have the issue of too many tabs. Chrome's upcoming Organize Tabs feature is Google's latest attempt to tame things.

The feature is still undergoing beta testing, but when it lands it will take some of the hard work out of tab management. For anyone happy to hand control over to Google, Organize Tabs will automatically sort open tabs into appropriate Tab Groups, much like the comparable AI-driven feature already to be found in Microsoft Edge.

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Mozilla has announced the availability of a limited number of browser extensions for the Android version of its Firefox web browser. The news comes several weeks after the company advised extension developers of the imminent launch of "support for an open ecosystem of extensions" for Firefox on Android.

Now testers who are running the Beta or Nightly builds of Firefox Android are being invited to try out dozens of extensions. At the moment, this is low-key launch as Mozilla is seeking feedback so the system can be tweaked and optimized ahead of a full launch further down the line.

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There is a great deal of copying of features and ideas in the browser world, so it can be hard to say which is "best". From Chrome and Firefox to Edge and Opera, there is so much inspiration and cross-contamination that it's difficult to find much that is unique.

The latest example of this is Google using the latest Canary build of Chrome to introduce its own version of a feature found in Microsoft Edge. Google's implementation of "Read Aloud" is near-identical to Microsoft's, but Chrome has a significantly larger user-base meaning that this handy tool will be enjoyed by more people.

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It is usually the case that when a web browser, or any other app for that matter, gets an interesting new feature, the company behind said app shouts about it. Usually, but not always.

A newly discovered option in Microsoft Edge is a good example. Microsoft has made no announcement about it, but has snuck a handy new "Copy video frame" option into the browser that makes it possible to grab a still from a video.

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As users of Google's web browser will be aware, Chrome has long featured a download bar at the bottom of the app window. While keeping download progress tucked out of the way made sense in some ways, it represented somewhat of a frustrating design inconsistency in moving download-related information away from the main browser controls in the toolbar.

This is something that Google had addressed in the latest update to Chrome, ditching the downloads bar with a new button in the main toolbar. While this is likely to be welcomed by most users, there will be some who prefer things how they used to be. Let's take a look at the new download button and also show you how to revert to the old approach if this is your preference.

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It will soon be easier to check whether you want to visit a site before you click a link in Chrome. Google is currently working on bringing a new feature called Link Preview to the desktop version its web browser that will give users the ability to check out where a link leads without visiting it.

Development seems to be in the fairly early stages at the moment and while it is not yet possible to try it out, there are documents produced by the company that give a very good idea of how it will look and work.

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Notifications can be useful, but all too often they are used by websites to spam people. To help protect users against such irritations, Microsoft has announced new notification blocking for its Edge browser.

The company says it is aware that website notifications may not only be annoying, but can be misleading or even dangerous. The aim in block spammy notifications is to not only offer protection to users of Microsoft Edge, but also to help them to get the most out of notifications.

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The love of gloomier hues -- whether for the sake of being gentler on one's eyes, or for purely aesthetic reasons -- means that just about every piece of software now has the option of switching from light to dark mode.

Microsoft Edge is no different, and the latest preview builds show that things could be about to get even darker. Select users who are signed up for the Canary channel report seeing much darker screen elements, with the likes of the favorites bar and tabs having fully black backgrounds.

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