The newest stable version of Chrome (version 32) now has a way of seeing tabs that are playing audio, whether it’s music or the sound track of a video. It’s a big help for those of us who hate having to listen to sound that we don’t get to control. If you suddenly hear some audio coming from your speakers while in Chrome, you can see identify the tab, click on it and shut down the source of the sound.
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This new indicator in Chrome is great, but it would be even better if web developers stopped playing music without the user clicking on something to start it. I’ve had numerous situations where I’ve been working in blissful silence or perhaps listening to another audio source or talking on the phone, only to be interrupted by a sound that I never asked for. It’s even happened to me when I’ve been on live radio (I am the tech analyst for CBS Radio News) to the point that I now try to remember to turn off my speakers before I go on the air.
Webcam indicator
Windows 8 UI and “supervised user.”
Another nice new feature is a red circle that shows up if the tab has opened your webcam. For obvious reasons, it’s a very good idea to know if you might be webcasting live.
Google has also added a Windows 8 Metro UI to Chrome for those who are using touch screen and has added the ability to create a “supervised user,” which is enables you to monitor the browsing history, block specific sites and approve sites that the user can access. Obviously this is a good parental control tool but could be used for other types of users as well.
Here are Google’s instructions for creating a new supervised user
- Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar and select Settings.
- In the “Users” section, click Add new user.
- Choose a picture and enter a name for the supervised user.
- Check the box next to “This is a supervised user managed by ”. If the checkbox is greyed out, you’ll need to sign in to Chrome before you can proceed. (Source: Google)
Source: Forbes
