Chrome Celebrates 15th Anniversary with Revamped Design and Enhanced Security
Google Chrome, which has reached its teenage years, is commemorating its 15th anniversary by introducing a fresh look and enhanced safety measures. The conventional white background will be bid farewell as Google introduces background customization through its Material You design language, offering a variety of new colors and improved accessibility to light and dark modes.
You can change the look of your browser by clicking the new button at the bottom of your home page titled “Customize Chrome”. Then a pop-up window gives you the option to switch between themes with colors ranging from yellow to purple and everything in between. Chrome will automatically switch to the option you choose, so you can explore different colors before choosing one. Here you can also choose whether the browser is in light, dark mode or to match your computer’s settings. Your settings may vary depending on which Google Account you’re signed in to (and may even remain the default white if you prefer).
Google has also added more options to Chrome’s dropdown menu, which the company says will speed up access to tools like Google Password Manager and extensions. You can also check out a public preview of Chrome’s “fresh, modern” online store. It now has an AI-powered extensions tab and an Editor spotlight section if you want recommendations to download.
The birthday updates are mostly design-focused, but Google is also trying to improve its Browsing Protection technology. Instead of updating its internal list of sites with phishing or malware threats every half hour, Chrome should now scan sites in real time. Google claims that 60 percent of bad sites exist for less than 10 minutes, and that this change should improve protection by 25 percent.
