Chrome 54 Comes With Stable Channel Update for Desktop and YouTube Flash embed rewriting to HTML5

Chrome 54 stable channel update

Yesterday, the Chrome team announced the promotion of Chrome 54 to the stable channel – 54.0.2840.59 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.

You can update to the latest version now using the browser’s built-in silent updater, or download it directly from google.com/chrome.

The update changes the way the browser handles YouTube embeds on a webpage page. Chrome will begin rewriting embedded YouTube Flash players to use the HTML5 embed style. This will improve performance and security as Chrome prepares to phase out Flash by the end of the year.

Chrome 54 also comes along with bug and security fixes apart from performance improvements.

Other new features include support for custom elements and components with the new V1 spec and a new BroadcastChannel API that allows sites to better communicate with their own custom tabs.

Chrome 54 on Android will allow users download web pages, music, pictures, and videos for offline viewing. Saved pages will have an offline tag in the address bar. It can be accessed by a Downloads manager that lists items in a timeline. Downloads can be initiated from the overflow menu with a new button on the top row of icons.

A revamped New Tabs page on Android features smart suggestions of articles and other pages that the user might be interested in. The suggestions improve as Chrome learns what type of content interests you. The New Tabs page will surface recently downloaded pages for faster access.

Chrome 54 for desktop is rolling out now.  Updates for Chrome on Android and Chrome OS are expected to follow shortly.