Google has announced the release of Chrome 152 web browser. Alongside this, a stable release of the free project Chromium, which acts as the foundation for Chrome, has also been made available. Chrome and Chromium differ in various aspects such as the use of Google logos, notification system for crashes, DRM for playing protected video content, automatic update installation system, Sandbox isolation, Google API keys provision, and passing RLZ parameters during searches. For users requiring more time to update, the Extended Stable branch will be supported for 8 weeks. The next release, Chrome 153, is scheduled for September 8.
Significant changes in Chrome 152 (1, 2, 3, 4):
- Implemented, though not yet enabled by default, a custom “googlechrome://” URI scheme allowing external sites opened in other browsers to call Chrome to display the page on clicking a link.
- On August 31, the Chrome Web Store is set to remove all add-ons using version 2 of Chrome manifest, defining capabilities and resources for add-ons written with WebExtensions API. Existing add-ons will remain but won’t receive updates or can’t be reinstalled if removed.
- The CUP protocol (Client Update Protocol) has been updated to utilize post-quantum encryption algorithms for updating browser components and extensions.
- For Windows builds, the capability to use Windows ACL to block reading and modification of memory in Chrome processes has been added. This protection mechanism is not enabled by default due to potential compatibility issues with certain antivirus software, data loss prevention systems, or accessibility tools. To activate it, set the chrome://flags/#enable-process-isolation-ui flag to Enabled and select the process isolation mode on the chrome://settings/system page.
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