Google introduces new features to the Chrome browser on a regular basis. Not everyone realizes these features are available long before their official release, though. In reality, the company tests potential features in the developer channel of Chrome, known as Canary. Canary is exclusively a development channel and receives dozens of features each year. Not all features tested in Canary reach the stable Chrome browser. Nonetheless, a Play/Pause Button recently found its way into the development channel.
The Play/Pause Button can be enabled through flags in the Canary channel. From there, a Play button appears to the right of the URL bar. Clicking this button creates a drop down menu showing media that’s currently playing in a tab. The drop down allows users to start and stop audio for both videos and music. It’s also possible to skip through songs from sites like Spotify and Apple Music. Luckily, this feature allows users to start or stop audio regardless of the tab they’re currently focused on in Chrome.
Since this feature is brand new, various bugs and shortcomings are evident right away. For starters, the feature actually crashes Chrome on certain websites. Even clicking on the drop down button may cause Chrome to crash and force close. The feature only focuses on the first source of audio played in Chrome. Subsequent tabs containing audio or videos won’t change or update the drop down menu. Hopefully, further fleshing out gives the drop down the ability to control all audio sources.
Google has provided users with more and more features to control their browsing experience. In the Stable channel, users can mute entire websites from playing audio. Many users will hope this feature makes its way to the stable release of Chrome. The Play/Pause Button wouldn’t be the first feature to fizzle out, though. It’s important to keep that in mind when it comes to features released in the development channel. Dozens upon dozens of features have been tested but gone unreleased after all.
In the end, the development channel is designed to fine tune the Chrome browser and test out potential new features. The average user shouldn’t access this channel because it’s inherently unstable and sometimes completely unusable. If the Play/Pause Button sticks around, then it could receive an official release within a few months. Until then, it will remain a feature in testing with a number of bugs flagged for fixing.
