With Chrome 88 Google has finally banned Flash from its browser. This means that even corporate customers are no longer able to access or offer Flash content – Google has been advising them to switch since 2017. Adobe itself has ended support for Flash.

In addition, FTP support is to end. According to Google, usage is extremely low and the protocol too insecure. This step was announced last year. It was also said that the switch to FTPS was not worthwhile. There are also enough alternatives. However, it does not seem to be uniform for all users, at least there are reports that FTP support is still running. However, Google says that it is disabled by default for all users. FTP can be selected with version 88 at least in the experimental settings, i.e. under chrome: flags and “Enable support for FTP URLs”.

Extended functions for more Chrome users The new version gets an expanded dark mode. What is new is that scroll bars are dark and web developers can also create a color scheme for their pages. Some users, the author is not one of them, have also received a new tab function with Chrome 88, which was already introduced for Chromebooks. If you have opened a lot of tabs, a small arrow appears next to the address line. If you click on it, a drop-down menu opens and lists the tabs that can be accessed via this. Tab throttling was already introduced in Chrome with the last version – and with it a higher performance.

The change to the address line was also included Chrome 86 announced and should now be moved to even more users. URLs are thus shortened to only the domain; the full URL is only displayed when you mouse-over. Google’s own password manager now warns even more people about too simple and compromised passwords. You can now find it directly via the profile photo if you are logged in. As well as the saved locations and payment methods.

Google closes in Chrome 88 in total 36 Vulnerabilities, most of which are rated “high”, one even as “critical”. The new version has been released for Windows, macOS and Linux.

(emw)