Google was one of the first companies to stop caring about version numbers for their applications. Every six to nine weeks, whatever improvements have been made to Chrome simply get pushed out to both desktop and mobile users. This latest update, version 31 if you really care, comes with three important features, one of which only a few people will be able to actually enjoy.
First, printing. Laugh all you want, but people still print things out, and while some handset makers have added their own printing stack to Android, it’s only with 4.4 KitKat that Google has added native printing support to their mobile operating system. This new version of Chrome allows you to print whatever it is you’re viewing, which can actually come in useful if you have some boarding passes or movie tickets that need to be scanned.
Second, the requestAutocomplete API. What does that even mean? Say you want to buy three different items from three different online stores on your phone. Doesn’t it stink to have to enter your payment information in each of those stores? With this new API, the browser, in this case Chrome, stores your credit card information for you. Whenever you visit a site that wants your payment information, all you have to do is give the site permission to access that payment data.
Third, security. I’m not sure if Google was one of the first companies to do this, but they’re certainly one of the most high profile corporations to announce “bug bounties”. If a security researcher finds a tragic flaw in Chrome and reports that bug to Google, they get paid. One researcher, who goes by the online handle “Pinkie Pie”, found just such a bug. His reward? $50,000. According to Android Police, this isn’t even the first reward this person has received. Total compensation thus far: “Nearly $180,000 in just the last year.”