All articles tagged with #browser
OpenAI is sunsetting ChatGPT Atlas, its standalone browser launched less than a year ago, with a deprecation target of August 9, as part of a broader push to trim side projects and fold Atlas learnings into a desktop 'ChatGPT Work' suite; this follows other moves like shutting down Sora and pausing 'adult mode', signaling a shift toward integrated productivity features.
A hacker demonstrates storing and rendering a full HTML page inside a favicon by encoding bytes into a tiny PNG image and using client-side code (with TypeScript) to unpack and render the content in the browser, effectively turning a 9x9 image into a miniature website; the project points to GitHub for the decoding logic and demo.
Google Earth’s Flight Simulator is now playable in the browser version of Google Earth (earth.google.com), accessible via the Tools menu. It offers a forgiving, playful way to fly over the world’s imagery and explore geography, with light humor about landing mishaps but serving as a fun expansion of Google Earth rather than a hardcore flight sim.
Google Earth’s hidden desktop flight simulator is now accessible in your browser without any install, by opening Google Earth and selecting Flight Simulator from the Explore Earth tools; for a photorealistic view switch the basemap to Satellite, and while the experience isn’t as deep as Microsoft Flight Simulator it’s still playable with keyboard/mouse controls and a reset option if you crash.
Mozilla’s Project Nova redesign for Firefox introduces a single, user-visible AI-off switch to disable all AI features, plus a cleaner UI and plain-language privacy controls, signaling a move toward opt-out AI in browsers while keeping some AI features available by default.
David Pierce declares Vivaldi 8.0 his new default browser thanks to its cleaner design and customization, while this week's Installer rounds up Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, two tech books (Steve Jobs in Exile and How to Rule the World), notable earbuds and gadgets, a racing game, and crowdsourced reader picks for entertainment and productivity.
Vivaldi 8.0 debuts a major design refresh called Unified UI, collapsing browser chrome into a single continuous surface with rounded content frames and introducing six preset layouts for quick customization. The update emphasizes configurability, preserves a classic theme option, and is available now for Windows, macOS, and Linux (including ARM64 like Raspberry Pi) via Vivaldi’s site, with Snap Store and Flathub listings mentioned (one being unverified).
Google unintentionally exposed details of an unfixed Chromium vulnerability that can let a Service Worker keep executing JavaScript after the browser is closed, enabling remote code execution and potential botnet-like abuse across all Chromium-based browsers. Despite reports of a fix, researchers found the issue still exploitable in some builds, prompting urgent patching efforts and highlighting that attackers could exploit it with minimal user interaction; Google awarded a bug bounty, and the disclosure raised broad risk though it doesn’t grant access to emails or the host OS.
OpenAI released a Chrome extension for Codex that enables testing web apps, gathering context across open tabs, and parallel use of Chrome DevTools, broadening Codex's appeal beyond developers; the company plans eventual unification with ChatGPT and Atlas, and the extension works on Windows and Mac.
With no official YouTube app on Switch 2, a Reddit-fueled workaround lets users access YouTube through a browser opened from the Super Animal Royale menu. The experience is far from ideal—videos load at about 360p, you can’t sign in, and it requires several reloads—highlighting the wait for an official Google app on the console.
Reddit users now judge browsers by efficiency, features, and OS integration rather than pure speed, with Edge favored for lower memory usage, better battery life, and tighter Windows 11 integration, while Chrome remains the go‑to for Google services and cross‑site compatibility; overall choice depends on your device and ecosystem, not just benchmarks.
Mozilla now ships a built-in VPN with Firefox that shields only browser traffic (not apps or system processes) using WireGuard, with a 50GB data limit—great for casual browsing but not a full privacy solution.
Google Chrome’s AI Mode update adds side-by-side viewing that preserves AI context across pages, plus a new plus menu to synthesize insights from your open tabs (and local PDFs/images). It also extends access to Canva-like tools for visuals, effectively turning your tabs into a unified AI workspace. The rollout is in progress for US users on desktop and mobile.
Google’s Chrome update makes AI Mode a persistent left sidebar: clicking links from AI Mode opens in the same tab with the AI tool still visible, and users can search across multiple open tabs and attach files or images, reducing tab switching during a search journey.
Google Chrome adds AI Skills, a library of premade and user-created prompts in the Gemini sidebar. Triggered with a slash via the Ask Gemini button, Skills let Gemini analyze your open tabs and perform tasks such as video summaries or optimizing recipes for higher protein. You can toggle the feature off in Settings under AI Innovations if you don’t want to use it, and expectations include some initial glitches as the tool rolls out.