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Google has released new versions of Chrome for iOS, Chrome OS and Chromecast as part of its normal schedule of updates.
Heading the list of new releases is the latest Chrome for iOS Web browser, version 30, for iPhones and iPads, which was unveiled in a Sept. 18 post by Jason Kersey of the Google Chrome team on the Google Chrome Releases Blog. Officially called Version 30.0.1599.12, the latest version includes a new look and feature enhancements for iOS7 on iPhones, as well as improvements to fullscreen behavior in devices, especially on iPad running iOS7, wrote Kersey.
Other improvements include a new user interface for the settings menu, as well as the ability of maps and email links to launch the Google Maps and Gmail apps (if installed) automatically, wrote Kersey. Also included are various stability and security improvements and bug fixes.
With the new release of Chrome 30 for iOS, users will be required to run iOS 6 or higher, wrote Kersey.
The new Chromecast update, to Build 13300, is a maintenance release of the software for Google’s recently released television dongle, wrote Roshan Baliga, of the Chromecast team, in a Sept. 18 post on the Google Chrome Releases Blog. The update, which is being sent to devices automatically, includes a kernel update, security fixes, robustness improvements and security enhancements, wrote Baliga.
Also unveiled is a new Stable channel update for the Chrome OS operating system, which powers Chromebooks, Chromeboxes and other devices. The latest version of the Stable channel update is Version 29.0.1547.74 for all Chrome OS devices, according to a Sept. 17 post by Ben Henry of the Chrome team on the Google Chrome Releases Blog. The new version includes bug fixes such as a Pepper Flash update to version 11.8.800.170-r1, as well as stability and security enhancements, wrote Henry.
In conjunction with the new release of the Stable channel version of Chrome OS, Google has promoted the new Dev channel version of Chrome OS to Version to 31.0.1631.1 for all Chrome OS devices except Google Chromebook Pixel and Google CR-48 devices, wrote Henry in a separate Sept. 18 post on the Google Chrome Releases Blog.
A new Chrome Web browser Beta channel update has also been announced as Beta Version 30.0.1599.47 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame, according to a Sept. 18 post by Karen Grünberg, of the Chrome team, on the Google Chrome Releases Blog.
In late August, Google released its Chrome 29 Web browser as part of its regularly scheduled release program, as well as an updated stable version of the Chrome OS.
The updates are done regularly by Google as features are added and as known problems are corrected. In August, Google released maintenance updates to its Stable, Dev and Beta software channels for users on all Chrome OS devices, as part of its regular code refreshes.
Earlier in August, Google issued software updates for its new Chromecast television dongle and for its existing Chrome Web browser, Chrome for iOS and Chrome Beta for Android applications.
Also in August, Google updated its Chrome DevTools toolset with three new tools that will make it easier for developers to write their code and produce their products. The tools include Workspaces, which allow developers to live-edit source files within DevTools with bidirectional disk persistence; CSS preprocessor mapping; and Snippets, which let developers create, edit, save and execute custom JavaScript snippets.
In July, Google announced previous updates for many of these applications, including a new version of its Chrome browser for iPhones and iPads, as well as a new Chrome Beta version for Android that introduced a new Web audio API and support for WebRTC.
In April, a Dev channel version of Chrome OS caused problems for some Google Docs users, so the company recommended that developers revert back to an earlier version that didn’t include the glitch. The affected Dev channel software was Version 28.0.1485.1.