Chrome gets fresh new look as it turns 15

In the coming weeks, Chrome's icons will be refreshed with a focus on legibility. This will include a new colour palette to better complement tabs and the toolbar as well as new themes and distinct colours to help users distinguish between profiles, according to Google in a blog post. 

"We’ve also better integrated with operating systems so your Chrome preferences can easily adapt to OS-level settings, like dark and light modes," it said. 

Additionally, new improvements have been made to make it easier to use Chrome. For example, there will now be a more comprehensive menu for faster access to Chrome extensions, Google Translate, Google Password Manager and more.

The Chrome web store has also been given a refresh. Google took those same Material You style cues to redesign the Chrome Web Store, making it easier to discover extensions. In addition to getting a fresh, modern interface, the store will feature new extension categories — like AI-powered extensions and Editors' spotlight — plus more personalised recommendations.

"On the security front, we’ve now expanded Safety Check to extensions so Chrome can help identify extensions in the store that were recently unpublished, in violation of our policies, or potentially malicious," it said. 

Don't miss: Next on Google Chrome’s hit list: Intrusive ads (yes, YouTube included)

As more browsers get smarter with the incorporation of AI, Chrome is also looking to make it easier to search with new capabilities that will give users quicker access to information and search tools.

When you’re on a webpage,  you simply need to select the 'Search this page with Google'' option from the three-dot menu. That will open the Google Search side panel, where you can find related searches, learn more about a page’s source or start another search altogether. You can even pin the Google Search side panel to your toolbar.

You can also opt-in to SGE while browsing in search labs to test out AI capabilities in tandem with your search.  Finally, Google has made browsing a safer experience by automatically flagging dangerous sites and files.  Previously, it worked by checking every site visit against a locally stored list of known bad sites, which is updated every 30 to 60 minutes. But phishing domains have gotten more sophisticated — and today, 60% of them exist for less than 10 minutes, making them difficult to block.

To block these dangerous sites the moment they launch, we’re upgrading Safe Browsing so it will now check sites against Google’s known-bad sites in real-time. By shortening the time between the identification and prevention of threats, we expect to see 25% improved protection from malware and phishing threats. This update will roll out to Chrome in the coming weeks.

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