Chrome 40 Brings Blocking of Certain Types of Plug-ins & Removes SSL 3.0

Google has been busy making changes to the latest Stable version of Google Chrome which leapt quickly from the Flash updating version 39 to the latest Chrome 40. The browser platform is widely used with over 400 million active users on various platforms who use the software regularly.

NPAPI Plugs Blocked by Default

Plugs known as Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface are now disabled by default in the latest version of Chrome across several platforms. Whilst these type of plug-ins are still in use, they have become less common due to the use of HTML5 coding in plug-ins.

The idea behind the change is to remove security issues, whilst increasing speed and boosting app stability. HTML5 based plug-ins are easier to use for Chrome and pose less risk overall so NPAPI plug-ins have been disabled.

It was initially announced back in September 2013 that Google planned to remove NPAPI but it was subsequently determined that too many people still relied on these types of plugins at the time. This is not the case any more so the change went ahead. Google also plan to unpublish any NPAPI plug-ins which are presently offered in the Chrome Web Store.

Some websites still use NPAPI plugs which can generate a warning message in the omni address box. It is possible to click the “Plug-in blocked” message and select “Always allow plug-ins on [website name]” in order to enable them on a site by site basis.

SSL 3.0 Removed

Following the serious security problem inherent in the third version of the SSL protocol, the Chrome development team made the choice to completely remove the SSL 3.0 protocol from the browser. This action was taken done in order to protect users from any websites that are still looking to exploit the security vulnerability.

Rest assured that secure website access using the https:// prefix still function correctly in Chrome 40.

Stability improvements

The usual stability improvements and bug fixes were attended to in the latest release of the popular web browser. Google spent more money than with the previous version of Chrome in awarding people for finding bugs in Chrome that posed a risk to users. A total of 62 bug fixes were resolved this time at a cost of $88,500 in “bug bounties” paid out by the search company.

Chrome 40 for iOS Updated

On Tuesday Google released Chrome 40 for iOS which updated the user interface to include its material design look whilst still trying to make the Chrome app not look out of place within iOS overall. It looks like a reasonable success.

Handoff on Mac and iOS devices

Handoff is now supported which allows users to begin a task on one device and swap over to another one to continue the task to completion. The feature requires both iOS 8 and the Mac OS X Yosemite to work. The feature appears to work fine when going from Chrome on the iPhone or iPad over to the default web browser on OS X. Other permutations have not been tested. Neat feature to have though and likely more software updates from developers will include this ability in this multi-device world we now live in.

Display Tweaks in iOS

Following on from the improvement to rendering for the latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus displays which happened back in October 2014, this has been further refined in Chrome 40 for iOS with a few tweaks here and there to smooth out any little niggles left from the change.

Chrome 40 for Android Updated Too

The Android version of Chrome 40 was also updated but it was a smaller change than with other platforms this go around.

Network improvements were made to refine how the browser uses available network capacity and bandwidth more effectively. Changes were made to how Chrome looks inside Android 5.0 Lollipop, the latest version of Android which has just started appearing on a few tablets and smart phones.

The Linux version of Chrome 40 was also updated too.