Auto-playing videos and ads tin can be super abrasive when surfing the web, but Google has taken steps with its Chrome browser to brand that easier. Now, Google Chrome is preparing a minor tweak that volition brand it much easier to mute tabs with a unmarried click.

As it stands today, Google Chrome displays a speaker icon when a tab starts playing whatsoever kind of audio, whether it'southward intentional or non. This serves as an indicator of where the sound is coming from but, with a right-click on the tab showing a "mute site" option.

Going frontward, though, Google will tweak this process to where the speaker icon in Chrome will go far possible to immediately mute that site on click. The change went alive in Chrome'due south latest Canary release as spotted by Chrome Story and u/Leopeva. The new beliefs isn't live by default, though, and instead requires a flag to be enabled.

To try this new behavior out for yourself, you can download Chrome Canary on Windows, Mac, Linux, or switch to the Canary Aqueduct on Chrome Bone. From there, you lot'll need to admission chrome://flags and look for the post-obit option.

Tab audio muting UI control: When enabled, the audio indicators in the tab strip double as tab audio mute controls. – Mac, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, Fuchsia

Information technology does seem, though, that this behavior isn't set up in stone. Currently, it'south just a "examination" and the characteristic may eventually terminate upwardly in Chrome's "global media control" section. We certainly hope this current state sticks around, as information technology's super like shooting fish in a barrel to utilize.

Our program is to run an experiment to compare the usage of tab muting with the usage of the global media control to assistance determine whether users would actually employ this featureand if then, if nosotros should put the control in the tab strip or in the global media control.

More on Chrome:

  • Google Chrome for iOS freezing for some users following latest updates
  • How to apply the share push in Google Chrome on desktop and Android
  • Google Chrome now supports Android 12's scrolling screenshots

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