Recently, Google Chrome unveiled some new features that can help boost your productivity — most notably including a way to link people to specific text from, say, an article or blog.
When you create one of these links, clicking it highlights the text you want to emphasize so it’s obvious what you want the receiver to focus on, whether it’s a statistic or an alluring quote from your favorite actor. All you have to do is highlight the text, right click, choose the option “Copy link to highlight,” and send the link.
It feels immediately like an extension of featured snippets, a type of Google Search result that works in basically the same way. When you search for something and get a featured snippet result, clicking that link (ostensibly) takes you directly to the text that applies, highlighting it in yellow.
The “link to highlight” feature is already hitting desktop versions of Chrome, and it should be coming to Android and iOS soon.
Also new is a more streamlined approach to managing digital documents. While you might already know about filling out and saving PDFs in Chrome, the browser has a new sidebar to look at thumbnails and access pages quickly. It also has a new presentation mode, in which you can eliminate on-screen distractions like toolbars, the address bar, and tabs.
Other new features include a two-page view and an upgraded top toolbar which puts helpful PDF commands like “zoom” “jump to page” “save” and “print and more” into one click. These additions are launching now.
For people who frequently find themselves sharing Chrome windows with an audience, this next one ought to be a welcome addition: Now when presenting or sharing Chrome windows, the browser silences all notifications. It also turns them back on when you’re finished. You’ll no longer risk yourself or your audience being distracted while delivering important news.
Google also promises that the newly updated Chrome has received some CPU usage optimizations, making it less likely to overheat your computer or chew up as much battery life.