Chrome 94 rolling out now with Sharing Hub, HTTPS-First mode, ‘What’s New’ page, and more

With Chrome’s four-week update cycle, we are now seeing the release of version 94 roll out to the masses. This brings along several improvements such as the previously discussed New Tab Page modules, a dedicated ‘What’s New’ page that shows all of the latest browser updates, an HTTPS-first mode, and more. Let’s take a look at what you’re going to see once you’ve received the update!

Settings Landing Page Redesign

Previously hidden behind a developer flag, the Settings page will now show you only one segment at a time to prevent information overload. The new layout is now a lot easier to digest since your eyes won’t have to work overtime to separate the on-screen elements manually. Any sidebar category you click will populate the main body of the page with nothing else to distract you! See below for an example.

Chrome Sharing Hub

While still behind a flag at this time, the ‘Sharing Hub’ built into the browser’s Omnibox lets you quickly copy links to your clipboard, generate QR codes to directly access that page, share it out to social media, and more. The version you’re seeing below is an exciting visual revamp for the feature that’s on the way in Chrome Canary, but for now, it will appear as a standard dialog box with text options.

chrome://flags/#sharing-hub-desktop-omnibox

Google Drive Files on the New Tab Page

I’ve spoken a lot about Chrome’s New Tab Page modules as I’ve been tracking their updates over the past year. Now, you’ll be able to use the Drive Files module that’s rolling out with Chrome 94. Recently accessed Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, and more will appear in a box called ‘From your Google Drive’ on the new tab page when you click the plus icon at the top of the tab strip or open Chrome for the first time in the morning.

HTTPS-First Mode

Since Chrome 90, HTTPS has been the default security for site connections, but with version 94, Google is making this the default. For now on, sites will load up in HTTPS for an added layer of protection. If the browser isn’t able to display a site in HTTPS, either because the developer has not updated or added their security certificate, or for any other reason, you’ll see a full-screen warning before being allowed to manually proceed. You should know that an HTTP connection is no longer considered safe, and Chrome will one day not load these at all!

Other Features

Outside of these core features that most users would be able to make use of on a day-to-day basis, there are several other improvements that you can find in the video below. These include a Material You revamp for Chrome for Android, a new onboarding experience for Chrome on iOS as well as tab grid bulk actions, improved graphical processing via the WebGPU API which has the capability to access onboard device Vulkan and Direct3D drivers, and more.

Please note that Chrome OS will begin its 4-week update cycle with version 96. If you’re looking for coverage on Chrome OS 93, you can find it here – we’ll keep you posted on Chrome OS 94 when it drops! If you’d like to stay up to date with all of the latest features that Google releases for the Chrome browser, you can visit the newly minted chrome://whats-new/ URL via the Omnibox.