Chrome 134 ships with security patches and new password change functionality

Google released a new stable version of its Chrome browser. This one brings Chrome to version 134 on the desktop. The new release fixes security issues and introduces new features.

Google says that it has fixed 14 security issues in Chrome 134. As usually, it lists only the externally reported security issues on the Chrome Releases blog. Good news for users is that there do not seem to be any exploits in the wild already, as Google usually mentions that in the announcement.

Note: more users may receive notifications that some of their extensions are no longer supported. Google is removing support for classic extensions in Chrome. Your options include switching to Mozilla’s Firefox web browser or one of its forks, as it will continue to support Manifest V2 extensions.

Only a few Chromium-based browsers have pledged support as well. Opera Software said that its browser will continue to support classic extension. Brave Software announced plans to support a handful of very popular classic extensions in Brave Browser.

Chrome 134: major functional changes

Chrome check your password - automatic password change

The new Chrome releases introduces a few new features and some changes that users need to be aware of.

Here are the highlights:

Semi-automated password change option: when users use the “check your password” dialog in Chrome, they may receive information about insecure passwords. Chrome 134 introduces a new feature to allow password changes on supported sites right in the dialog. The feature is not fully automated, but may speed up the process.
Reading mode in Chrome’s sidebar supports “read aloud” functionality now.
Improved password form detection: Google says that it uses on-device machine learning to better “parse password forms on the web to increase detection and filling accuracy”.
Unpacked extensions are only enabled in Chrome if Developer Mode is turned on. Google reasons that this is done to “will only be enabled if the developer mode switch is turned on. This change is intended to improve security by mitigating the risks associated with harmful unpacked extensions and developer mode tampering exploitation”.
Chrome for Android may hide contents of notifications that “are suspected to be abusive”. It uses on-device detection for that.
New Security & Privacy panel in the Developer Tools. This allows developers to test how sites behave when third-party cookies are limited. Developers may use the panel to test all different states (All, Blocked, Allowed, Allowed by Exception).

How to upgrade to Chrome 134

Google Chrome is already out. Most unmanaged devices should receive the update in the coming days. Note that desktop users may enforce installation of the update by opening Menu > Help > About Google Chrome.

Windows users may run winget upgrade Google.Chrome.Exe to download and install the latest version that way.

Android users cannot force the upgrade. They need to wait until Google makes the update available via Google Play.

Now it is your turn. Do you have Chrome installed and use the browser? Or do you prefer a different browser altogether? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Summary