Google is pushing 64-bit Chrome on Android
If you are using Chrome on Android devices, you may run a 64-bit version of the browser after the upgrade to Chrome 89 on the device, instead of the 32-bit version of the browser.
Google started to push the 64-bit version of Google Chrome for Android to devices that match specific system requirements. In other words: not all devices will see the upgrade to Chrome 64. The following minimum requirements need to be met (all of them):
- The device needs to run Android 10 or newer.
- The device needs to have at least 8 Gigabytes of RAM.
You can check out the installed version of Chrome, including whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit, in the following way:
- Load chrome://version in the address bar of the browser.
- The first entry, called Google Chrome, displays the installed version of the web browser and its architecture.
If Chrome is not at version 89 already, you need to update the browser to version 89 first to run the 64-bit version of the browser on the device, provided that it meets the requirements.
The Android version is displayed under OS on the same page.
Check the installed RAM on Android
To check the RAM that is installed on the device, do the following:
- Open the Settings on the device.
- Search for "memory".
- Select the "System > Developer Options" result.
- The installed memory is displayed.
Note: if you have not enabled Developer options on the device, you may need to do so first. Open Settings > About Phone, scroll to the Build number listing, and tap on it seven times (may vary, but you should get information that Developer options are now enabled on the device after the operation).
Google added the requirement in 2019 that Android applications needed to support 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, going forward. Existing apps that are not updated anymore remain available as 32-bit only versions, however.
ARM announced in October 2020 that ARM Cortex-A "big" cores" will only support 64-bit code from 2022 onward.
One of the main effects of switching to a 64-bit application is that it may utilize more RAM on the device. Performance may benefit from the switch because of that.
The move to 64-bit apps may also benefit security, power consumption, and enable support for features that may not be possible on 32-bit devices.
Now You: does your Android device meet the minimum requirements? Many of Google's own recently released devices don't.
I guess Softonic is also getting money from Google.
Wait till Shaun discovers chrome://flags/ and then the real how-to chrome article flooding will start…
I don’t think so. The real summary. If you need to use Chrome use it in Incognito Mode because it keeps track of your browsing history. Use Edge for your normal browsing. Edge keeps track of your browsing history for saving puppies:) Typical tricks, badmouthing the main competitor.
Really Shaun your writing “The Dark Web Awaits!” is the dark mode the same as the dark web?
Maybe dark mode was a better title?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web
Or Brave shortcut with “-tor” parameter at the end.
The problem, is that I’m not sure which is less dangerous – Chrome or Tor?
Question marks after a declarative sentence is bad Grammer. See the headline. To use a question mark simply change the wording to a sentence, such as “How do you……”
@Shaun thanks for the articles!
“One of the best things about using Google Chrome is it keeps track of your browsing history.”
Considering the article topic I assume you mean browsing history in a broader sense, including things like tracking storage. Well even if that comment was restricted to browsing history only, not only it’s not Chrome specific but rather universal among browsers, but Chrome would instead be specific in making keeping history the worst possible feature among browsers. Because while most of the browsers (Chrome and Firefox for instance) misuse browsing history by exploiting it commercially for things like personalized advertising, so the more is kept the better for them, Chrome excels at it by uploading it unencrypted to Google servers often without the user even knowing.
“This mode disables local storage of site data, cookies, and browsing history.”
This is false. You are still being tracked by web sites (by local storage, cookies…) during your private browsing session, it just ends at the end of the session by a wiping of the tracking storage. Firefox has the same issue, and both by design. From:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/7440301
“Cookies and site data are remembered while you’re browsing, but deleted when you exit Incognito mode.”
In fact, if it works like in Firefox, the tracking storage is even hidden to the user in the UI during private browsing but still here, creating the illusion that it is actually disabled, and even technical users often fall for this. The ability to limit, clean, auto-clean tracking storage, for instance with extensions, may also be limited in this mode. Personally I do not use it because it’s not private enough for this reason, giving up control on cookies ; I use normal mode with privacy tweaks.
A consequence is that browsers like Tor Browser that use mandatory permanent private browsing mode suffer from the same problem. In fact some update went further and totally removed the ability to block cookies and other tracking storage in the UI, while it’s still possible in Firefox in private browsing.
In private browsing modes a bit like in Tor Browser it seems that there is an underlying philosophy that it doesn’t matter that you every tiniest action is being scrutinized, analyzed, and used back against you by evil actors as long as there isn’t your real life name attached to the process. Personally, I disagree. This “loophole” is being heavily abused by surveillance capitalists in many other ways currently.
“One misconception people have is their data is kept private when using incognito mode. You should know that you can still be tracked and attacked by third parties. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can track your browsing history and block local websites according to your geography.”
I don’t think that the most common misconception about private browsing is that it would act like an antivirus and block attacks that target vulnerabilities.
What’s often misunderstood is rather that a lot of this mode aims at protecting from other users of the same computer, being a sort of “porn mode” for example. From the same Google reference:
“When you browse privately, other people who use the device won’t see your history.”
A typical example being the browsing history wipe, while such history is not accessible to web sites anyway, but could be to other local users. (well as discussed above it’s also accessible to browser companies while it shouldn’t be, and additionally for anti-user purposes, but that’s another issue). Or the cookies being stored in memory instead of on disk, which may address yet other privacy issues due to local attacks.
However it is also useful to partly limit web tracking (I would not call this “third party” as the author writes because this obviously also includes first party ie the browsed site) in addition to protecting from other local users, by wiping tracking storage at the end of the session. With the caveat above that during the session itself, tracking storage is not disabled. There are also typically other measures that are directed against tracking by web sites exclusively, that are enforced in private browsing mode.
And finally there is all the tracking by sites that happens without using the tracking storage itself, such as through fingerprinting or the IP address ; wiping storage at the end of the session won’t help with that, unless using Tor Browser.
Why use an incognito mode when you can use browsers with a pre-installed web proxy. The UtopiaP2P ecosystem browser is the best way for me to surf the web anonymously. If, like me, you value your anonymity and privacy, then I recommend using this browser.