Chrome 30 Beta: A richer web on Android

Today we launched Chrome 30 on the Beta channel. This release introduces several new developer features for Chrome Apps and Chrome for Android Beta.

WebGL in Chrome for Android

WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 3D graphics and 2D graphics. It is now enabled by default in Chrome for Android Beta running on devices with high-end mobile GPUs (this includes Nexus 4 and Nexus 7). Try it out with this racer WebGL demo and others:

DeviceMotion Events in Chrome for Android

This release introduces the device motion part of the Device Orientation API in Chrome for Android Beta. DeviceMotion events provide you information about device acceleration and rotation rates. Check out isthisanearthquake.com to see them in action.

Media Source Extension in Chrome for Android

The MediaSource API allows JavaScript to generate media streams for playback, which enables use cases such as adaptive streaming and time-shifting live streams. It is now enabled by default in Chrome for Android running on Jellybean or higher. This API is especially useful for streaming to mobile devices, where connectivity is often constrained and unpredictable. Play with it on this demo page.

Chrome Apps APIs

Chrome Apps support a few new APIs in this release, including webview.request, media gallery write support, and downloads. Chrome App developers can also now use Chrome Web Store managed in-app payments.

Other platform features in this release

Unless otherwise noted, the changes described below apply to desktop versions of Chrome and Chrome for Android:

• Support for the WebRTC Device Enumeration API allows users to change their microphones and/or camera on the fly without having to restart the WebRTC call.
• DevTools now supports CSS source maps (also known as preprocessors).
• Chrome will now match the behavior of IE and not honor the Refresh header or tags when the URL to be refreshed to has a javascript: scheme. This is done to close down one more XSS vector against poorly constructed sites.
• Two new experimental features landed behind a flag on Chrome for Android: Web Speech API (recognition) and the Vibration API.

Visit chromestatus.com for a complete overview of Chrome’s developer features, and circle +Google Chrome Developers for more frequent updates.

Posted by Sami Kyöstilä, Software Engineer and Mobile Pixel Wrangler