Google Chrome, the tech giant's flagship web browser, has just released its Version 55 this week to accommodate a new functionality that everyone has been raving about: web pages that can be downloaded and read offline.
Version 55 (officially called Version 55.0.2883.84) is now available on Windows, Mac and Linux browsers, and on iOS. By the end of this year, it is expected that Version 55 will also be available on Google Play.
Alex Mineer, Technical Program Manager of Google, says that new features have been added that include the following: easier downloads for music, videos, and full web pages that can also be viewed offline; the ability to view and share downloads made in Chrome; automatic spell checks when typing online or when viewing web pages; and more intuitive web searches. A full list of updates can be found on Google's source site.
Mineer encourages everyone to immediately report issues that they may encounter. Reports can be sent to Chrome's 'file a bug' section.
Krishna Govind, Google's Software QA Engineer, adds that users can also check out Google's official community forums should they have questions and would like to reach out to other users.
It is said that the release of Version 55 is especially designed for Google's users in India, one of Chrome's largest users to date. Google aims to expand its already solid reach in India, the second most populous country in the world with 1.252 billion people as of World Bank's last survey. To attend to India's needs is important for Google, given that the company has already been officially blocked in 2010 in China, the world's most populous country with 1.357 billion people.
Caesar Sengupta, Google's Vice President of Product Management, says Google is confident that it can reach its goal of expanding in India. He adds, "This is where new users are going to come from and their needs are different." This is why, aside from Chrome Version 55, Google is now going in partnership with India's infrastructure plans such as its railway Wi-Fi project, to further increase Chrome's exposure to more people.
Google Chrome has initially been released for Microsoft Windows only. Due to its staggering popularity, it has been distributed to Linux, Mac OS, iOS and Android as well.
Version 55 is now available for download on Google Chrome's browser tab. A Mac OS X 10.9 or later is needed for Mac OS, for Windows OS it's 10/8.1/8/7 32-bit, and for Linux it's Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/openSUSE. For iOS it's just a plug-and-play download.
