Chrome Update Notifier, Receive Notifications Of Google Browser Updates

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 13, 2010
Updated • Jun 21, 2017
Google Chrome, Google Chrome extensions
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If you compare how Google Chrome and Firefox handle browser and extension updates, you may come to the conclusion that Firefox is more transparent than Google Chrome, as it displays update notifications prior to the update to the user.

Chrome on the other hand updates automatically with no notification whatsoever prior or after the update.

Update: New versions of Chrome change the color of the Hamburger icon in the browser toolbar to indicate that an update is available. The extensions listed below are not available anymore, and there does not appear to be a comparable add-on available right now for Chrome. The closest is Update Notifier, but it provides you with information after the fact, and only for Chrome and not browser extensions.

The only recourse right now is to disable Chrome updates, and monitor the official Chrome releases blog at the same time. End

This can be a problem. Not only on home systems but especially for companies and organizations with strict rules regarding software updates on the company network and computers. Why? Because updates may break or change features for instance, or may cause incompatibilities with other programs.

Chrome Update Notifier

chrome update notifier

Chrome Update Notifier, and Chrome Update Notifier Plus, are two extensions for the Chrome web browser that display update notifications to the user. The notifications are displayed after updates of the browser or extensions.

Depending on the extension used, they provide details such as the updated item's name, version and a link to the official homepage that often may list additional information about the update.

Why two versions for the same extension? The latest development builds of Google Chrome now offer the means to monitor extension updates as well.

Chrome Update Notifier, which is compatible with all versions of Chrome only notifies the user if Chrome itself was updated to a new version. Chrome Update Notifier Plus, which is only compatible with Google Chrome 8 adds extension update notifications.

It will take some time until the beta and stable editions of the Google browser start supporting this new feature.

Please note that the extension won't inform you about updates before they are executed. You may also find the Extensions Update Notifier interesting as it informs you about extension updates. Even better, it links to the changelog so that you can read what has changed in the update.

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Update Notifier
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Comments

  1. ktfk said on June 21, 2017 at 7:40 pm
    Reply

    Outdated article.
    Available option: 1. Update or 2. Remove
    For the sake of the fight against misleading/misinformation, It’s EVERY content publisher’s DUTY to do so.

  2. Tim said on September 30, 2015 at 6:48 am
    Reply

    I checked the ‘Chrome Update Notifier’ but it seems way outdated. Are there any decent alternatives out there?

    I’m not sure if Chrome has any failsafes in place for potential Chrome corruption, but I’m always afraid of inadvertently shutting down halfway into an automatic update. I would prefer to be notified when an automatic update has started and finished just to ensure I’m not running a gimped browser.

  3. Visitor said on October 13, 2010 at 9:43 pm
    Reply

    For some security reasons my Chrome does not update itself and I have to do it manually. I would like to see an extension that will notify me when new Chrome builds will be available for downloading. These extensions are not able to do so.

    BTW, I’ve switched Chrome to developer channel one month ago and found it more stable than beta (bugs are fixed earlier :-)

    1. Martin said on October 13, 2010 at 9:49 pm
      Reply

      Well if you have RSS you can monitor the feed http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/

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