experiments on chrome

1613 experiments

Experiments are projects that push the boundaries of art, technology, design and culture. Experiments inspire, teach, and delight.

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Start with a line, let the planet complete the picture.

Satellite images provide a wealth of visual data from which we can visualize in interesting ways. Land Lines is an experiment that lets you explore Google Earth satellite imagery through gesture. “Draw” to find satellite images that match your every line; “Drag” to create an infinite line of connected rivers, highways and coastlines.

Using a combination of machine learning, optimized algorithms, and graphics card power, the experiment is able to run efficiently on your phone’s web browser without a need for backend servers.

Learn more about how the project was created in this technical case study or browse the open-source code on GitHub .

We used a combination of OpenCV Structured Forests and ImageJ’s Ridge Detection to analyze and identify dominant visual lines in the initial dataset of 50,000+ images. This helped cull down the original dataset to just a few thousand of the most interesting images.

For the draw application, we stored the resulting line data in a vantage point tree . This data structure made it fast and easy to find matches from the dataset in real time right in your phone or desktop web browser.

We used Pixi.js , an open source library built upon the WebGL API, to rapidly draw and redraw 2D WebGL graphics without hindering performance.

All images are hosted on Google Cloud Storage so images are served quickly to users worldwide.

Made by Zach Lieberman , Matt Felsen , and the Data Arts Team. Special thanks to Local Projects .

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Inside Guide

Inside Guide brings together four weeks of fun stuff to do at home this (especially weird) summer. Take a hike on Mars; see a dragonfly the size of a dragon; make a song just by moving your body; or get an AI to guess what you’re doodling. It’s a bunch of ways to keep learning, thinking and exploring, all without leaving the house.

Quick, Draw!

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Chrome music lab.

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How-To Geek

How to get access to experimental features in chrome (and on chromebooks).

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Live Photo Lock Screens Are the Best iPhone Feature You’re Not Using

This cloning trick in linux will save you permission headaches, a smart lock could cost less than a locksmith service call, quick links, tweak hidden flags, change release channels, live on the bleeding edge: use canary.

Chromebooks are great because they're simple, secure, and stable. If you're the type who likes to tinker, however, you can deviate from that stable bit by enabling experimental features.

While some of the tweaks we cover here are specific to Chromebooks, others are also available in the Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux. We'll specify which as we discuss them. Time to get your hands dirty!

Related: How to Install Chrome OS from a USB Drive and Run It on Any PC

As features are in development for Chrome, they're often added in as "flags"---hidden tweaks that are almost ready for primetime, but still may need a bit of work. These flags are available on both Chrome and Chrome OS.

Before you start clicking and tweaking your little heart out, remember that most of these features are not finished. They're mostly there, but not completely. As a result, these flags can cause your browser or computer to become unstable---and the more flags you tweak, the higher the chances of this happening. We're not trying to scare you away from trying things out, of course, but you should keep your expectations in check.

Also note that Google can remove any of these features at any time, so it's best to not get too attached. There's a chance any particular flag could simply disappear after the next update. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen.

If you're still interested in seeing what's going on behind the scenes, open a new browser tab and type the following:

chrome://flags

This address opens the flags menu, where you'll find all sorts of new goodies. We can't possibly cover everything in this post (and even if we tried, it would be outdated in a week), so just look through everything and decide what you may want to try. Each flag has details about which operating systems it works on---Chrome for Windows, Mac, or Linux; Chrome OS, or all of those. Make sure to pay attention to that.

After enabling a flag, you'll need to restart your browser. Fortunately, a little button that helps with that will show up at the bottom of the page, making it easy to apply your new features. You can also apply several at one time, then restart when you're done, though we recommend enabling one at a time and then testing each out. That way, it's easier to pinpoint exactly which flag is the culprit should a problem arise.

By default, all Chrome installations are on the stable channel---this includes browser installs on Windows, Mac, or Linux, as well as Chromebooks. And that makes sense. Google wants everyone to have the best experience possible right out of the gate.

If you're not a "stable channel" kind of person, however, you can get access to all sorts of new stuff by switching to a different release channel. Right now, there are three primary channels:

• Stable : This is the default channel option. Choose this channel for rock solid dependability.
• Beta:  Offers access to newer features that are almost ready to be included in the stable channel. The beta channel allows you to test new features before they roll out to the masses, and is still mostly stable in our experience.
• Developer:  Designed for developers to test new features, this is the most unstable of the three release channels, but it also offers the newest features quicker than the others. Only use this channel if you don't mind a little instability in your life.

If you're not scared away from changing channels yet, here's how you can jump from the stable channel to something a little more rough around the edges.

How to Change Channels on Chrome OS

First, click the "Customize" button (the one with three dots) in the upper right corner of the Chrome window, and then choose the "Settings" option.

On the "Settings" screen, click the Main Menu button (the icon with three lines) in the top left corner, and then choose "About Chrome OS."

On the "About Chrome OS" screen, click the "Detailed build information" button.

Next, click the "Change Channel" button, and then choose the channel you want.

How to Change Channels in the Browser

Changing channels on the browser is a little more straightforward: just download the version you want and install it. Simple. Note that this will replace your existing Chrome installation. You cannot run more than one channel at the same time.

You can find a  full list of available downloads here ---just choose your OS, build (32-bit or 64-bit), and release channel. Done and done.

If you really want to see what Google is cooking, the Canary channel is the way to go. This is an enhanced developer build of Chrome that gets nightly commits pushed into its code---this means it's highly unstable, but is also running the absolute latest features Google is working on.

Related: How to Switch to (or Leave) the Canary Channel on Your Chromebook

To run Canary on your PC, Mac, or Linux machine, simply  download the Canary build and install it . Unlike other builds of Chrome, Canary will install as a standalone browser---meaning it won't overwrite your existing installation. This way, you can run the stable, beta, or developer version of Chrome, and also run Canary alongside your main installation. That's neat.

Related: How to Enable Developer Mode on Your Chromebook

Chrome OS, on the other hand, doesn't work that way. You can only have one installation of Chrome OS at a time, so you really have to commit to running this highly unstable version of the operating system. As a result, they don't make it a simple transition. To switch to the Canary build of Chrome OS, you'll first need to put your Chromebook  into developer mode .

Note: Developer Mode and the Developer Channel are two different things. Read the post linked above for more information on what developer mode is and what you can do with it.

After entering developer mode, open a CROSH shell (Ctrl+Alt+T), type the following text, and then press Enter:

live_in_a_coal_mine

You'll be asked if you're sure you want to switch. If you're all in, type "Y" and hit Enter.

Head back to Settings > About Chrome OS, and then check for updates. This should download and install the Canary build. And good luck! It's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out.

For more information on the Chrome OS Canary channel, along with how to switch back to one of the more stable builds, check out our post on  switching to or leaving the Canary channel on your Chromebook .

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10 of the Best Google Chrome Experiments You Need to Try

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Whether you love or hate Google Chrome , it has changed the way we browse the Web. Firefox has already adopted many of its traits, and Microsoft is set to do the same with its new Spartan browser launching alongside Windows 10.

Google has promoted programming languages associated with the Web, and pushed coders to take advantage of JavaScript and HTML5 in new, and often exciting, ways. Over 1,000 Chrome experiments have now been posted online, and we're here to look at 10 that stand out from the crowd.

Google Chrome Experiments

Google has been showcasing the best Web pioneers on the Chrome Experiments website since 2009. Six years (and counting) later, and the number of Chrome experiments live on the site has passed 1,000. Chrome Experiment #1000 being a tool designed to help you organize and discover the other 999 experiments.

This gave us the perfect opportunity to browse through the 1,000-plus Chrome experiments in order to pick out 10 of the very best that everybody reading this should try for themselves. The majority are fun games, but all are examples of what a modern Web browser is capable of in this day and age.

Video Puzzle

Video Puzzle is a jigsaw puzzle with a difference, as you move pieces of a video around while it's playing in real-time. The puzzles aren't exactly hard, but they do at least offer a different challenge than regular jigsaws.

Multiplayer Piano

Multiplayer Piano offers you the chance to play a virtual keyboard with other people online. At the same time. Which is both annoying and mesmerizing at the same time. Thankfully, you can also choose to play by yourself when the mood takes you.

X-Type is an old-school shooter which sees you controlling a tiny spaceship trying to survive and thrive when pitched against enemy ships much bigger in size. The name is no mere coincidence, as X-Type takes its cue from R-Type.

Mecabricks is a giant box of virtual LEGO you can play with to your heart's content. Choose the blocks and pieces, place them on the board, and let your creativity run wild. Build with Chrome is probably better, but there's something endearing about this effort.

Silk only offers a very short-lived diversion, but it's still a Chrome experiment you shouldn't miss. You simply draw a pattern with your mouse or finger, and the program does the rest, leaving you as the creator of some beautiful, detailed art.

Cube is a WebGL-based game designed to promote Google Maps . But as it's a lot of fun to play, we can accept the promotional nature with open arms. There are eight levels to complete, and when you reach the end you should have learned something. Which is a bonus.

GeoGuessr is a rather addictive little game that tests your knowledge of geography . You get dropped in a random place (via Google Street View) and asked to pinpoint your location on a world map. It's a lot tougher than it looks, because much of the world looks very similar.

Racer is, as its name suggests, an old-school racing game which sees you competing with friends on your mobile devices. You line your phones and/or tablets up to form the racetrack, which makes the whole thing much more difficult than you would expect.

X-Wing sees you piloting an X-Wing from Star Wars (naturally) through what looks like the trench run of the Death Star. Even the music is there to add a touch of realism to the whole thing, which will thrill geeks of all stripes despite the decidedly retro graphics.

Inspirograph

Spirograph is, as if you couldn't guess, a virtual version of Spirograph. Younger readers may not have any clue what Spirograph is, but this virtual version does a great job of imitating the ability of the real-life toy to create amazing geometric patterns quickly and simply.

Continue the Conversation

We think this is a strong list of Chrome experiments that are well worth a second look. There are plenty of others worth trying too, and there are more being added all the time. So, we recommend you bookmarking the Google Chrome Experiments website for future reference. It's never too late to add your voice to the discussion.

Please continue the conversation in the comments section below. While some of you took part in the original discussion, there is always room for more opinions. Do you agree with the Chrome experiments selected for the list? If not, then please add your own suggestions to the conversation happening below. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here, just opinions.

A Debt of Gratitude (Kinda)

In order to compile this list of Google Chrome Experiments you really need to try, we asked for help from the MakeUseOf community. Unfortunately, for once, our readers let us down. Boo! Hiss! But we still love you all. Just about.

However, this does mean we cannot thank readers by name, so I'll personally take the opportunity to give myself credit for compiling this list without any help from any of you. Sure, it's my job, but scouring 1,000 experiments to find 10 that are actually worth a second look was tough. Woe is me.

Image Credit: Isaac Bowen via Flickr

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Try experiments in Search Labs

Labs experiments, including AI-powered experiences, are in development, and their quality and availability may vary. You can leave feedback to help us improve the overall experience.

What you need 

• Be 18 or over.
• A personal Google Account that you manage on your own. For now, Search Labs and its experiments are not available to Google Workspace accounts, including Google Workspace for Education accounts.

Learn about the languages and countries where Search Labs is available .

Manage experiments in Search Labs

• Make sure you’re signed in to your Google Account with Incognito mode turned off.

• To see how it works click Try an example.
• For more info about an experiment, tap its card.
• You may need to join the waitlist to access an experiment. If so, click Join Waitlist .
• Find the experiment you want to turn off.

Give feedback on experiments & Search Labs 

• Tap the experiment’s card.
• At the bottom of the page, click Send feedback .
• At the bottom of the page, click Share   Feedback .

How experiments work

Experiments may change how Google Search appears. For example, you might get an AI Overview at the top of search results. Also, you might get different design layouts than you’re used to.

Learn about the experiments

Important: Experiment availability varies.

• AI Overviews and more: Ask anything, get inspired, and find what you’re looking for in faster, easier ways with insights from the web. Learn more about AI Overviews and more.
• AI tools while browsing:  Browse web pages with AI-powered tools that help you understand the key points and get straight to what you're looking for on the page. Learn more about AI tools w hile browsing .
• Viola the Bird: You can help Viola the Bird play its cello-inspired instrument, regardless of your musical ability.

If you’re on the waitlist for an experiment and it's ready for you, we’ll notify you by email if you opted in to receive email updates about Search Labs.

You’ll be able to turn the experiment off and on at any time, and you’ll also have the opportunity to provide feedback.

If you joined the waitlist for an experiment and changed your mind, you can leave the waitlist.

The amount of time you'll wait may vary.

While we can’t share exact dates for when Search Labs will be available in your country, we're currently expanding outside of the US.

When relevant, you may be asked to review and accept terms of service specific to an experiment. These also apply:

• Google Privacy Policy

Before we make generative AI tools available to Google Workspace for Education accounts, especially those for users under 18, we want to make sure:

• School administrators have transparency and control over how students access generative AI with their school accounts.
• School staff and faculty are informed about generative AI tools so they can make decisions that align with their school policies. This includes giving school staff and faculty time to test generative AI tools in their school environment.

As we work on this, we'll continue to work with the education community to explore new ways to bring helpful tools and functionalities to educators and students.

• AI Overviews and more: Not all queries will generate an AI Overview in your search results. In this case, your search results won’t include "AI Overviews and more" content.

You can find the end date of an experiment on its card on the Search Labs page, though these may change over time.

Related resources 

• “AI Overviews and more” in Search Labs
• “AI tools while browsing” in Search Labs
• Learn about generative AI

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The best Chrome experiments to show off your browsing power

Now, after several years of innovation and development, there are hundreds of Experiments from eager developers around the world who would have never been able to share their projects otherwise. Whether you want to pass the time, employ your thinking muscles, or amaze your eyes, these Chrome Experiments have something for you. We’ve collected our favorites.

A word about compatibility : Experiments generally remain compatible as long as you are using a Chrome browser or mobile device – that’s one of the benefits of these fun little programs. However, that’s not always guaranteed. Most Experiments have a “Technology” section you may want to glance at if you encounter any problems. The list may include technology that your current device or setup doesn’t support: Keep Chrome updated to help with this. Also, keep in mind that some Experiments are made to only work on a mobile Chrome platform.

Music and visual

Patatap provides a sound kit on all devices that responds to sound selections by producing moving shapes. Tap your screen or keyboard in various places to create and combine different sounds, then watch the basic color-and-shape animations follow suit as you make your own music video. The color palette and soundscape options can be switched at any time. Whether you are trying to distract kids or yourself, it’s a good choice.

Plink is an incredibly innovative music experience that musicians and music-lovers of all kinds will enjoy – often together. It’s a multiplayer tool that allows you to create various musical riffs by moving your mouse – but the real fun comes when connected to three different people online. Here, you can use three different effects as one to create a whole jamming session worth of potentially awesome tunes.

Virtual Art Sessions

This one is a bit difficult to describe, but absolutely worth the experience. It’s a virtual reality documentary of sorts, except it also takes place in a virtual 3D world. The piece is divided into six sections with six artists composing works. You can pan, rotate, and zoom in any direction to watch all of them working at once, and – look, we said it was hard to describe. But if you have any interest in tech or VR, you owe it to yourself to try this out.

The Wilderness Downtown

Even people who have no idea what Chrome Experiments are often recognize Wilderness Downtown, one of the first major Experiments, and certainly the first big success. Back in 2010, this little interactive film went viral, quickly becoming one of the must-have web experiences of the time. It uses the song We Used to Wait by Arcade Fire, and creates a beautiful music video that channels through multiple Chrome windows while also pulling information about your childhood neighborhood from Maps. The result…well, if you haven’t tried it yet, you need to.

Square Mirror

There are a ton of cam-based visual Experiments, but we like this one for its unique take on the genre: It uses your webcam to replicate images in a vast jumble of colored squares – something both fun and quietly disturbing. If you like it, we highly suggest Paint Mirror and Stretch Mirror, which are by the same creator and also hit that mid-point between creepy and beautiful.

Video Puzzle

While it’s technically a kind of game, the value of Video Puzzle comes from its fascinating visuals. The Experiment automatically forms a puzzle out of a video, while that video is playing. It challenges you to keep track of what’s happening in the video at all times. This interesting take on puzzles is particularly fun for kids, and effortlessly shows off what Chrome can do with a little thought.

The Peanut Gallery

Start with a silent film clip from the early days of Hollywood. Speak along with the scenes however you choose. Have your speech automatically converted into text and shown as classic silent film intertitles. Now, share with friends. This is the essence of Peanut Gallery, and the results can be remarkably hilarious. Try it at a party, or use it when everyone is having a boring day.

Design, Games, and Science

Webgl water simulation.

The idea is simple: You have a digital pool of water. Now play with it. This quickly yields both an entertaining distraction and an impressive lesson in 3D effects as you bob a sphere and see how it changes both the rippling water and the light reflecting from above. Not only does it show what Chrome is capable of, it’s also surprisingly soothing, in a bath-time kind of way.

Generative Machines

Soothing in a very different way, this program…well, it generates machines. Specifically, it uses an exploding view trick that allows you to pull super-weird machine puzzles apart and push them back together at will. Laugh at the crazy engineering – or try to see if any of it actually works.

This is an advanced, Lego-ish game that allows you to pick from a number of brick shapes and attach them to create your own elaborate 3D models. It’s not quite Minecraft, but it is an excellent way to use your imagination in a casual way, and some of the results can resemble true masterpieces.

PlanetMaker

One of the more beautiful Experiments, PlanetMaker challenges you to turn earth into a completely different planet by tweaking the light, atmosphere, weather and more. You can even upload your own graphics to play around with different possibilities. It’s super fun for the sci-fi fan – and the other Experiments by Kevin Gill are similarly fascinating, and well worth exploring.

Hydra is, at its heart, a digital shadow maker. You choose from 101 different shapes, and use them to create various shadows against a white background. The goal is to create “hydras” or monster shapes with the tools provided. Kids can utilize their imaginations, and adults can join in on the fun as well. Remember to save your hydras with a funny name for maximum effect.

It’s a super simple game, but it can still stave off boredom: This Experiment generates a bunch of balls in your Chrome window. You can pull and drop the balls however you want to see if you can create more. Moving the window can also shove and tip the balls. This works a little better on mobile devices, but it’s amusing either way.

A Dark Room

Do you miss the simple days of text adventures – or did you never get a chance to try them out? A Dark Room is a free, minimalistic journey in the style of old-time, interactive text stories and quests. Use your imagination, type in your responses, and survive the dark room!

Out of all the Chrome Experiment games, this is the most innovative we’ve seen. It’s made to work across Chrome-compatible mobile devices so you can play with nearby friends. Each person gets a piece of the racetrack, and the phones must be held together the right way to complete the track and avoid crashes. Anyone can accelerate the car by tapping their screen. It doesn’t always work right, but it is always fun.

GeoGuessr is a well-made geographical quiz game with an amazing twist: Instead of just giving you clues about a location, it uses mapping technology to effectively drop you on a random street corner in the world: Using streetviews and deduction, can you work out where you are? There are multiple modes for a variety of landmarks and location types.

Look for a more traditional type of game? Check out X-Type, which is your basic spaceship shooter, except that it can run on a Chrome browser. It’s also a real challenge with endless boss battles and an infinite increase in difficulty.

BioDigital Human

We have to hand it to the BioDigital Team, this interactive tool is way more impressive than any textbook. Using over 3,000 models (all peer reviewed for accuracy), the program lets you take a tour through every part of the human body – and that’s just the start. You can dissect, create cross-sections, search for specific data relationships, and a whole lot more. Unless you’re dealing with an actual cadaver, it’s one of the best ways to study the human body in 3D.

The WebGL Globe

Tapping into the growing GIS (geographic information system) market, this nifty Experiment is an open source program that allows people to upload various types of geographical data over the entire world. Viewers can then use various color gradients and visualizations to view them – making it a great tool for research and presentations covering anything from Bitcoin activities to meteorite landings.

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Air cooling and water cooling are the two main temperature control options for your home computer. And if you’re the type of person who enjoys building your PC from the ground up, you’ll know just how many air and liquid cooling accessories you have to choose from. While air cooling is arguably the most straightforward method, there are definitely some advantages to going with a liquid-chilled configuration. 

Whether you’re building your very first machine, or are just looking for a little know-how when it comes to PC components, we’ve put together this comparison of air and liquid cooling to help you decide which is best for your wants and needs. Advantages of air cooling Air-cooled graphics cards are much more straightforward. Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

Of all the components in your PC, the one that gets the least attention is your power supply. You can carry it over from build to build, and as long as it boots and your PC doesn't catch itself on fire, you have nothing to worry about. Your power supply has a shelf life, though, and ignoring it could cause damage to your components or even you.

Why are we talking about this now? A post on the Corsair subreddit where u/-Gavin- says that their Corsair RX1000x "exploded" is currently gaining momentum, The post doesn't have any text and is accompanied with a picture of the user holding a capacitator cap between a pair of needle-nose pliers. In the comments, the poster clarifies that the power supply is around 13 years old.

If you want to choose the best RAM for your PC, you'll be faced with a lot of terms that may not sound familiar at a glance. DDR? DIMM? CAS? XMP? When you just want something that goes well with the rest of your PC, having to pull out a dictionary before you shop can be pretty daunting.

Fortunately, picking RAM is fairly straightforward once you understand what you're looking for and what it means. In our RAM buying guide, we'll walk you through the process so that you can be happy with your choice. Understanding RAM The thing about RAM is that you don't need to fully get what each and every spec is responsible for -- not unless you want to. If you're building a barebones office PC, even sub-optimal RAM will make it run; the problem is that it won't run nearly as well as it could.

Oops, sorry for the tech trouble.

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1,000 Chrome Experiments and counting...

Posted by Valdean Klump , Data Arts Team

Originally posted to the Google Chrome blog

In 2009 , we launched Chrome Experiments to showcase the work of creative coders who pushed HTML5 and JavaScript to the limits in order to build beautiful, unique web experiences. At first, the site had only 19 experiments, but we hoped they would be a source of inspiration for programmers who made art with open web technologies. Since then, we’ve been humbled by the quantity and quality of new submissions. Today, we’ve reached a major milestone: 1,000 experiments.

To celebrate, we’ve created a special Experiment #1000 that visualizes every other experiment on the site. You can explore all 1,000 in a variety of ways, including a real-time code editor and a timeline with selectable tags. Click on the WebGL tag, for example, and you’ll see how that technology surged in popularity when it was added to Chrome in 2011.

Along with Experiment #1000, we’ve redesigned ChromeExperiments.com using Polymer . It’s mobile-friendly, so no matter what kind of phone or tablet you have, or how you hold it, the site scales smoothly. If you’re on your phone, you can also filter the list to mobile-compatible experiments by selecting the Mobile tag .

Looking back at the old experiments this month has been a joy. Highlights include Mr.doob’s classic Ball Pool (one of the original 19 experiments), the first WebGL experiment by Gregg Tavares (try 4,000 fish – this used to be very slow!), and Dinahmoe’s multiplayer audio toy Plink , which combines the Web Audio API with Node.js . At Google I/O in 2012, we released the first mobile experiments, including AlteredQualia’s Multitouch Toy and Dominic Szablewski’s X-Type . And each year afterward, new web technologies appeared, like getUserMedia and the Web Speech API . It’s been a wonderful journey.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the site, and most of all to the creators who have shared their work. We’re excited see what experiments you come up with next.

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What are Chrome flags?

Activate additional debugging tools, or try out new or experimental features.

Chrome flags are a way to activate browser features that are not available by default.

For example, Chrome wanted to allow users to try picture-in-picture video features, before rolling it out to everyone.

The feature was made available behind a flag, so any user could try it out and give feedback. The code and design were tested and polished based on the feedback, so now you can use picture-in-picture by default in Chrome—and it works really well.

Understand the risks

Most Chrome users will never need to use Chrome flags .

If you do set Chrome flags, you need to be careful. By activating or deactivating features, you could lose data or compromise your security or privacy—and features you toggle with a flag may stop working or be removed without notice.

If you're an enterprise IT administrator, you shouldn't use Chrome flags in production. You might want to take a look at enterprise policies instead.

...and proceed with caution

Having said all that, if you're a web developer who needs to try out new technology—or just a curious geek—then getting to know Chrome flags can be really worthwhile.

There are a large number of flags for many different types of features. Some flags affect the way Chrome looks or works, and some activate features such as new JavaScript APIs. The availability of flags depends on which version of Chrome you're running.

There are two ways to set Chrome flags:

• From the chrome://flags page.
• By opening Chrome from the command line in a terminal.

chrome://flags

To set a flag from the chrome://flags page in Chrome, you need to find the flag, toggle the setting for the flag, then relaunch the browser. For example, to activate Chrome's heads-up display for performance metrics:

Now you can use the heads-up display that shows technical information about web page performance.

Command-line flags

If you're a web developer, you may want to set flags by opening Chrome from the command line in a terminal. You run the command to open Chrome, and add the flags you want to set. There are a lot more Chrome settings you can configure from the command line than those available from the chrome://flags page.

For example, to run Chrome Canary from a terminal on a Mac, with the Topics API activated and epoch length set to 15 seconds, use the following command:

That's just one example! There are hundreds of other flags for activating, deactivating and configuring less well-known features.

If you regularly use different Chrome channels with command-line flags, you might want to create a function for each channel, and add these to your shell RC file. For example, on macOS:

• Open a terminal.
• Create a function: cf(){ open -a 'Google Chrome Canary' --args $*; }
• Use the function: cf --enable-features=TrackingProtection3pcd

Set the Chrome user data directory

In Chrome engineering language, Chrome user refers to an "individual human user of Chrome".

A Chrome client refers to an individual installation of Chrome on a device.

More precisely, a Chrome client corresponds to an individual user data directory . Each Chrome profile is stored in a subdirectory within the user data directory.

If you run Chrome from the command line, you can set the user data directory with the --user-data-dir flag .

That means you can have a separate user data directory for development, with its own profile subdirectories. Creating a new user data directory makes Chrome behave as if it had been freshly installed, which can be helpful for debugging profile-related issues.

To run Chrome from the command line with a new temporary user directory, use the following flag:

You might also want to add the following flags to avoid the browser check and first run UI:

Beware of flag conflicts

It's possible that the flags you set could conflict with each other. chrome://flags settings override command-line settings for the same flag, and the defaults for a chrome://flags setting might, in some cases, override your command line configurations. If the flags you set running Chrome from the command line don't work as expected, you should check your chrome://flags page.

Note that the settings shown on the chrome://flags page don't reflect flags set from the command line. Instead, take a look at the chrome://version page. The Command Line section shows flag settings.

Two other ways to try out experimental features

You can enable a range of experimental features that don't have their own flag, by toggling the chrome://flags#enable-experimental-web-platform-features flag. Documentation for new features will explain when this is an option.

In Chrome Beta you can try out featured experiments and give feedback, by toggling Experiment settings and relaunching the browser. Test experimental features in Chrome provides more detail.

Which features get a flag?

Not all experimental features get their own Chrome flag:

• Some features only become available when they ship in Chrome Canary, and can't be activated by a flag before that. This is quite rare.
• For 'smaller' features that require no more than 1–2 quarters of work, experimental availability is provided by enabling the following flag: chrome://flags#enable-experimental-web-platform-features This activates multiple minor features.
• Major features are made available for experimentation with flags specific to the feature, using chrome://flags or command line switches.

What about Chrome settings?

Chrome settings and Chrome flags serve different purposes.

Chrome flags enable the user to activate or deactivate experimental features, whereas the controls available from the chrome://settings page allow the user to customize their experience for features that are available by default.

What about origin trials?

Origin trials are a way for developers to test a new or experimental web platform feature at scale, and give feedback to the web standards community before the feature is made available to all users.

Features undergoing an origin trial are activated on all pages that provide a valid token for that trial. This allows website owners to activate an experimental feature for all their users, without requiring users to change browser settings or set flags. By comparison, Chrome flags allow individual users to activate or deactivate an experimental feature, on all websites they visit. Getting started with Chrome's origin trials provides more detail.

Find out more

• The chromium.org website explains how to set flags from the command line , for mobile and desktop on different platforms.
• Learn about features, flags, switches, and other patterns for browser experimentation.
• Chrome Flags for Tooling documents flags relevant to tools, automation, and benchmarking.
• List of Chromium Command Line Switches is automatically updated with all available flags and, last time we checked, there were more than 1400 of them!
• Chromium Flag Updates is a bot that tweets changes to the chrome/browser/flag-metadata.json file.
• There are even more flags available to configure individual JavaScript API features. You can find out more about them from API documentation and proposal explainers.
• Experimental features in Firefox

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2023-02-08 UTC.

Chromium Blog

How chrome achieved the highest score ever on speedometer 3.

Today’s The Fast and the Curious post explores how Chrome achieved the highest score on the new Speedometer 3.0, an upgraded browser benchmarking tool to optimize the performance of Web applications. Try out Chrome today! 

Speedometer 3.0 is a recently published benchmark for measuring browser performance that was created as an industry collaboration between companies like Google, Apple, Mozilla, Intel, and Microsoft. This benchmark helped us identify areas in which we could optimize Chrome to deliver a faster browser experience to all our users.

Here’s a closer look at how we further optimized Chrome to achieve the highest score ever Speedometer 3, by carefully tracking its recent performance over time as the updated benchmark was being developed. Since the inception of Speedometer 3 in May 2022, we've driven a 72% increase in Chrome’s Speedometer score - translating into performance gains for our users:

Optimizing workloads

By looking at the workloads in Speedometer and in which functions Chrome was spending the most time, we were able to make targeted optimizations to those functions that each drove an increase in Chrome’s score. For example, the SpaceSplitString function is used heavily to turn space-separated strings such as those in “class=’foo bar’ ” into a list representation. In this function we removed some unnecessary bound checks. When we detect that there are duplicated stylesheets, we dedupe them and reference a single stylesheet instance. We made an optimization to reduce the cost of drawing paths and arcs by tuning memory allocations. When creating form editors we detected some unnecessary processing that occurs when form elements are created. Within querySelector, we were able to detect what selector was commonly used and create a hot-path for that.

We previously shared how we optimized innerHTML using specialized fast paths for parsing, an implementation that also made its way into WebKit . Some workloads in Speedometer 3 use DOMParser so we extended the same optimization for another 1% gain.

We worked with the Harfbuzz maintainer to also optimize how Chrome renders AAT fonts such as those used by Apple Mac OS system fonts. Text starts as a processed stream of unicode characters that is then transformed into a glyph stream that is then run through a state machine defined in the AAT font. The optimization allows us to determine more quickly whether glyphs actually participate in the rules for the state machine, leading to speed-ups when processing text using AAT.

Picking the right code to focus on

An important strategy for achieving high performance is tiering up code, which is picking the right code to further optimize within the engine. Intel contributed profile guided tiering to V8 that remembers tiering decisions from the past such that if a function was stably tiered up in the past, we eagerly tier it up on future runs.

Improving garbage collection

Another area of changes that drove around 3% progression on Speedometer 3 was improvements around garbage collection. V8’s garbage collector has a long history of making use of renderer idle time to avoid interfering with actual application code. The recent changes follow this spirit by extending existing mechanisms to prefer garbage collection in idle time on otherwise very active renderers where possible. Specifically, DOM finalization code that is run on reclaiming objects is now also run in idle time. Previously, such operations would compete with regular application code over CPU resources. In addition, V8 now supports a much more compact layout for objects that wrap DOM elements, i.e., all objects that are exposed to JavaScript frameworks. The compact layout reduces memory pressure and results in less time spent on garbage collection.

Posted by Thomas Nattestad, Chrome Product Manager

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Chrome sends AI history search data to Google

Google is working on a new feature in Chrome that gives artificial intelligence control over a user's browsing history. Chrome users may then interact with the AI when they run searches in their browsing history.

Here are the highlights:

• Chrome users may soon search the browsing history using natural language.
• The browser stores contents of visited pages locally in encrypted form.
• The feature submits search data to Google.

Google notes that search includes "general page content" as well as page titles and URLs. The feature returns "improved results" and works from the address bar and the history page according to Google.

Since it uses AI, it supports using "everyday language to search", according to Google.

Word of warning: Google displays a warning to users who manage the feature in Chrome. Under "things to consider", Google writes that data is always sent to Google when the feature is used.

Data includes the "history search terms, page content of best matches, and generated model outputs". Furthermore, Google confirms that the data may be accessed by human reviewers "to improve the feature".  Chrome saves the content of pages "in an encrypted form" on the device.

This does not mean that Chrome reviewers do not get access to page contents, as MSPoweruser author Rafly Gilang suggested. Google even states that reviewers gain access to "page content of best matches".

There is no word about anonymization of personal data. It is possible that Google does that, but there is no evidence on the current "History search, powered by AI" page in the Chrome settings.

In other words, Google may gain access to personal information. A very simple example is a personal website or social media profile.

Good news is that the feature can be turned off or on in Chrome. Whether it is enabled by default or not remains to be seen. It would probably go against GDPR in the EU, if it would be turned on automatically.

Closing Words

Running searches across URLs, page titles, and content is certainly a desirable feature, provided that data stays local and users have full control over the feature.

The current history feature may only return matching URLs or titles. Extensions such as Memex were created in the past to allow users to search page contents as well.

Google's work on the AI-powered history search feature is ongoing. It is possible that things will change in future releases or that the entire feature is scrapped before official release.

Would you use an AI-powered history search feature? 

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Chrome is a cancer. Actually, Google as a company is a cancer.

They all should be paying us money everyday for all that data mining, and now AI data mining. It grinds my gears to think all those companies earning billions of dollars selling our mined data and we don’t get any money in return.

Is this proven or just clickbait?

Because most people have the little “send cookie information to search engine” which is the reason why you get rich responses by Google search on the omnibox, if you think that doesn’t contact the Google search servers to get suggestions well, it’s silly to think they are not using that to ‘improve’ their search results.

So it is pretty much easy to use the whole search history for the same.

People should disconnect from the internet and the world in general if they think they live in a world where they are not being watched, even your neighbor probably has a camera pointing at you knowing everything you do. So expecting to use the internet, and then having some mythological creature called Privacy at your side, well, you have been eating too much junk food that it already messed up with your brain.

Use Chrome, especially with an account in any Google owned service, and you are calling for them to your use information to improve their services, everything is toggled on by default, so even if they had options to turn things off, they know most people won’t turn the off.

You also know these people don’t care about your data, you are just an egocentric person who thinks a multi billion company cares about ‘you’, they just need data, random data, they can’t point the data exactly at you, but they still can get data to improve ‘ads’ or something in your area, ISP, IP and all that. Nobody has proven otherwise, but people make it seem like Gov and everyone are not having access to tons of data that could potentially target you, but a multibillion company, they just care to generate more money and they do that (google) by showing their clients how accurate their data is to sell you a product, not to ‘spy on you’.

This same system has been used for voice and every piece of technology. Just look at videogames, they make balance changes based on every headshot, winning rate of weapons, what’s more popular and unpopular, what skill is used more than other, every piece of data is registered and saved in their servers… can they track you with it? unlikely, it’s just a bunch of random data making a big chart, would you say they are ‘invading your privacy’? well you should, because that’s what they are, but that’s what has been used in every industry to improve technology, you like it or not.

Well, they won’t be sending mine as I will never use Chrome, aka the browser for sheep.

yea sure. now its AI hypetrain that google uses to get access to our private stuff, ofc only in users interest. if its recall or this, spyware is spyware.

Why would anyone assume otherwise?

Appreciate the heads up. Wouldn’t touch this for any reason and imagine most who work in regulated industries wouldn’t either.

People wonder why DLP / data exfiltration risks are becoming greater concerns as a threat vector than network edge / pen-testing risk.

Makes you wonder who the malicious actors really are…

Color me surprised, not.

Good news is that the feature can be turned off or on. Bad news is that no one can be sure that flipping the switch off actually does anything more than flip the switch so you get a false sense of privacy. Kinda when you turn everything off in windows settings and believe you have turned things off… Ever fake-thrown a ball repeatedly with a dog? Yeah, you’re the dog now.

Don’t use a windows version which has settings :)

Or… find the equivalent settings in the registry, or via control panel, or via cmd.

No thanks I know AI is all about gathering data about a user. That’s why I don’t plan to use AI and I think many will realize that AI is too intusive.

Maybe they should just restore from backup what they used to use for search to the year 2010. That would be a 1000% improvement at $0.00 in development costs and a massive increase in user satisfaction. And, also,replace Sundar Pichai and Liz Reid with anyone or anything – literally a potted plant would be better.

About the concept : we’ve got the history feature in all browsers and, unless history is kept session after session, infinitely so to say, history without AI should AI allow “everyday language to search” seems to me just fine. Personal note : 1- History together with caches and search history wiped on browser exit, 2- A toolbar button has been added to toggle history hence within the session as well… so ‘AI History Search Assistance’ and I are unlikely to be pals :)

About Google and its eternal conquest of knowing what users do, what users think, who they are together with the thrilling challenge of ketchup-AI (uneducated eaters pouring the red sauce over anything they get to eat), they just had to add AI surveillance in their arsenal, especially that it serves their aims. OK, users are warned, least they could do, and Meta’s latest confrontation with the EU may not be stranger to this precaution, but, again, will the feature be opt-in or opt-out, or opt-in within the EU and opt-out elsewhere? One thing is sure, these GAFAM follow two policies when it comes to users’ rights : tangent to the law (trials show they’ve happened to break the curve) and profit to inconceivable heights. Bypass those intruders, period.

@ Tom Hawack,

You said, quote: “History together with caches and search history wiped on browser exit”, unquote. That doesn’t amount to much if the data is sent to Google in real time. Clearing it on exit might make you feel better, but it didn’t make any difference to what actually happened to it and where it now resides safe and secure in the cloud and no longer within your reach.

Using a system that doesn’t include the infernal AI is the only viable solution, or at least for the time. Windows 8.1 user here with Floorp browser installed.

@TelV, my comment about wiping history and caches concerned the very concept of Google new feature in Chrome that gives artificial intelligence control over a user’s browsing history, emphasizing on my disinterest for such a concept given i don’t keep history and that I even happen to disable it.

When it comes to what is sent to Google, for one i don’t use Google’s Chrome browser, for two access to Google servers is blocked system-wide for most with a few exceptions though, exceptions handled by uBlock Origin and blocked by default.

Exceptions concern the minimum required for YouTube (though I use the ‘Piped” front-end but just in case all Piped instances would fail), and for a specific extension (TWP Translate Web Pages which needs only access to [translate.googleapis.com]),

Otherwise, I do keep a door opened, yet locked, for other Google services in case relatives, visitors would wish/need to access Google services, and to open the door I call a VPN extension (Windscribe, with a preference for Zürich and Paris, anyway a location with the same time zone as that of the OS) which will take the relay of my system-wide blacklists and DNS handled by DNScrypt-proxy, enabling therefor access to Google servers, for the very short time they are needed, after what i disable Windscribe and recover automatically my DNSCrypt-proxy DNS resolvers and blacklists …

The story of my digital life, isn’t it? Partially anyway. Believe me, the armor is solid as a rock. :)

I don’t care, I only search common things. Thanks for the article! :]

it is called spyware

The good news for Chrome users is that Google already had all of their personal information anyway. This probably just makes it easier and more efficient for Google to slurp everything up into the borg.

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