
In the Explore app on Chromebooks, a What’s New section details changes to the operating system for users to keep up to date on new features and additions to their daily workflow. This previously only existed in the Settings page and before that, not at all.
Over the years as a Chromebook Expert in Best Buy, I had many customers beg me to send feedback for such a feature, and we finally received it. Now, a new Chromium Repository commit discovered by Dinsan at Chrome Story points to the very same What’s New style page being created for Chrome browser users on desktops!
What’s New: Add empty skeleton and feature flag
Chromium Repository
Upon visiting the new page URL, users should be met with similar information to that of the aforementioned Explore app on Chromebooks – see below. While not all details of the latest release will be listed there as that would be fairly daunting and pointless for the average consumer to read, it will likely hit the highlights of major feature releases such as Reading List, Tab Groups, Tab Search, and so on.
This page is periodically updated on Chrome OS when Google gets enough new features ready for the public and makes a big push for major versions, so it stands to reason that the same will occur for Chrome as a browser. The user will probably even see a toast notification when the page is updated so they can read the release notes for themselves, and it’s likely to be stored indefinitely under the three dots ‘more’ menu or in the browser settings.
For now, this is an empty skeleton feature flag and is entering into early development. I don’t think this will take very long to finalize though, as it’s fairly inconsequential to the overall use of the browser, but it can be helpful for those who wish to track the changes the company makes on a month-to-month basis. Lastly, I should mention that this flag is for Android, but Google is pretty good about making changes to both mobile and desktop simultaneously or one after the other, especially where smaller features are concerned. Let me know in the comments section if you’re interested in having a What’s New page for the browser itself!
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