Google Chrome will crash less frequently after 'injection'-blocking updates

The web browser is fixing a problem caused by third-party apps

Aatif Sulleyman
Friday 01 December 2017 14:30 EST
Comments
Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Google Chrome, speaks during Google I/O Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California June 28, 2012
Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Google Chrome, speaks during Google I/O Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California June 28, 2012 (REUTERS/Stephen Lam)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Chrome is going to start crashing less often.

Google is making changes to the Windows version of its web browser, which will make it much more stable.

It plans to roll these out in three phases, starting next April.

According to the company, around two thirds of Chrome users on Windows have other apps on their computers that “interact” with Chrome, such as antivirus.

“In the past, this software needed to inject code in Chrome in order to function properly,” Google’s Chris Hamilton explained in a blog post.

Unfortunately, any software that does this makes Chrome 15 per cent more likely to crash, Google says.

“With Chrome extensions and Native Messaging, there are now modern alternatives to running code inside of Chrome processes,” Hamilton added.

In April 2018, Google plans to release Chrome 66, which will display a warning after a crash, telling users that another computer program was at the route of the problem and showing them how to remove it.

In July, Google will release Chrome 68, which will block third-party software from injecting into Chrome processes. If, however, this blocking stops Chrome from working properly, the browser will restart and allow the injection, but also display a warning message.

In January 2019, Google will release Chrome 72, which will always block Chrome injection.

“While most software that injects code into Chrome will be affected by these changes, there are some exceptions,” Hamilton added.

“Microsoft-signed code, accessibility software, and IME software will not be affected. As with all Chrome changes, developers are encouraged to use Chrome Beta for early testing.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in