Chrome 75 Released With Web Share API File Support, Numeric Separators and Secret Reader Mode

An anonymous reader writes: Google this week released Chrome 75 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The release includes hint for low latency canvas contexts, files supported in the Web Share API, numeric separators, and more developer features. [...] Next, files are now supported by the Web Share API. For years, Google has been working to bring native sharing capabilities to the web. The Web Share API allows web apps to invoke the same share dialog box as a native app. The implementation brings a new method and a new shareData property. Numeric literals now allow underscores (_, U+005F) as separators to make them more readable. Underscores can only appear between digits, and consecutive underscores are not allowed. There is also a reader mode that is not enabled by default. From a report: The big feature included with Chrome 75 is the addition of a hidden Reader Mode, similar to the one included with Firefox. This new Reader Mode is not active by default and must be turned on using one of Google Chrome's experimental flags -- which until recently has only been available in the Chrome Canary distribution. To enable and test Chrome's new Reader Mode, users must visit the chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode section, and enable the Reader Mode option, as in the screenshot below. Chrome for Android includes these two features: 1. Generate strong and unique passwords with Chrome's built-in password manager. 2. Quickly look up your passwords by tapping any password field and using the new keyboard option.

Browser non gratta

[JoeyRox]

You mean the browser people will stop using after it starts handicapping ad-blocking extensions?

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[denny_deluxe]

Why wait until then? I've already removed it from every device I'm running.

When will it support all of HTML5

[jellomizer]

What I find odd is how all the major browsers are failing to fully support the HTML5 Standard after all these years. When running the HTML5 test on them
Google Chrome is usually the highest, then Firefox or Edge (they flip around) then IE is basically dead last.

While Development in IE has stopped, I don't see why the browser makers can get get the full implementation (or near full implementation, as some codex's are closed sourced) in place

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[AmiMoJo]

Which test are you using? The only stuff I'm not seeing supported by Chrome is stuff I don't want anyway, i.e. it's only possible use is abuse.

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[jellomizer]

The problem with the browser is there are few ways they are used. With External Website for normal web stuff, and as the User Interface Level for Applications. One of the HTML5 Feature for the latter would be the ability to upload a directory folder. Improved Menu Elements.

Reader Mode

[FatAlb3rt]

> It has Reader Mode. It looks like this:

Am I going to have to install this to actually understand what Reader Mode does? I didn't see any sort of description it.

Re:Reader Mode

[WoodstockJeff]

"Reader View extension brings Mozilla's open-source Readability implantation to Chromium. Using this extension you can strip clutters from webpages and read them on "Reader View" mode. The extension allows you to toggle between normal view and reader view by pressing the page-action button."

So, it's a way to make the decoration go away.

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[doconnor]

It takes what appears to be the main text of a web page, and just display that in a nice font (which can be configured). It removes most ads and clutter.

Re:Reader Mode

[Bradmont]

Reader view is the best web browser feature around these days. As a long-time FF user I'm surprised it's just now making it into Chrome. It strips out all the sidebars, headers, footers, pop-ups, and so on -- pretty much everything but the main body of the article, and formats it in a very readable way. Sort of like reading the content of a page the way it would show up on an e-book reader. So, web content the way it ought to be displayed.

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[kaizendojo]

Did you bother to click on the accompanying link which explains it and shows images of it? No, I guess you didn't.

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[jeremyp]

Well, if it's anything like the one that Safari has had since forever, it basically just presents the text on a page in a nice readable format, stripping out the other crap like adverts etc. Also, if a story is presented in several parts on separate pages, it will aggregate them together into one continuous article.

Sometimes it can be used to sidestep checks that you are not running an ad blocker

Numeric literals

[Errol backfiring]

Numeric literals now allow underscores (_, U+005F) as separators to make them more readable.

So literals that are quite clearly NOT numeric are now all of a sudden numeric? Yikes! A literal like "1_000" should just throw an error. This is just a way of outsmarting a programmer. You never know if the programmer meant "A1_000" or something like that, or 1.000, or 1,000. Throwing an error is the only sensible way of dealing with this.

Re: Numeric literals

[Anonymous Coward]

It improves readability. Qucikly, tell me what number this is:
10000000000

What about this number:
10_000_000_000

Did you find one easier to figure out than the other? I certainly did.

[12,345,678].length == 3

[tepples]

The underscore is used because JavaScript already uses the comma to distinguish items in an array. The expression [12,345,678] represents a 3-element array with the number 12 at index 0, the number 345 at index 1, and the number 678 at index 2.

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[bn-7bc]

well data and presentation should be separate the array is for data storage so no separators are necessary and anyway using comma as 1000 separators ar fare from ideal as , is used as decimal separator in quite a few languages. Here is an idea why not use a caracter thar is not frequently used for other things ( outside programming that is i nominate “;” ok that screws up a few programming languages but I’m shore some smart developers can figure out a replacement character but I’m st

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[Bite The Pillow]

We solved this for CSV files a long time ago. If JavaShit thinks it's a string they need another solution. Preferably in the language, not just one browser.

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[K. S. Kyosuke]

If only one could write something like 10e9 or 1e10 or something like that...

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[nazrhyn]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the OP AC used zeroes for simplicity.

1329348538439 vs. 1_329_348_538_439

The scientific notation for that wouldn't be much better than just writing it out: 1.329348538439e12

To the other AC about commas: comma is already an operator in JavaScript.

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[Nahor]

Quickly, tell me what number this is:
10_000_0000_000

What about this number:
10_000_0e00_001

What about that:
10_000-000_000

So if I have to play close attention to make sure that the separator is used correctly, that negate most of its advantages.

What about that:
const MILLION = 1000000000

or this:
10e6

So for the example you gave, there are better ways to make it readable.

And sure the latter example is because the number is a bit special but then, what about this:
3_141_592_553

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[narcc]

Isn't this just designed to make scripts incompatible with other browsers?

Chrome?

[johannesg]

Wasn't that that browser that couldn't block ads? Have they fixed that now?

Whoa, numeric separators!

[shess]

Imagine what this will enable!?!

No, really, imagine it! Because I feel like that's a pretty minor detail to be one of the headline features...

So what is "reader mode"?

[argStyopa]

It's mentioned here, and in the linked article, but as far as I can tell, it's not explained what reader-mode DOES or why someone would want to employ it?

THANKS

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[tepples]

As I understand it, reader mode strips navigation and potentially distracting styling out of an HTML document, leaving the main article in a fairly plain text view.

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[argStyopa]

Thank you!