We learned that Google Chrome may have a sidebar search feature similar to that of Microsoft Edge. This will allow users to highlight text on web pages and find more relevant information on the web without having to open a new tab. The search results appear in a pane to the right of the current web page and show all relevant links, images, definitions and videos. Now it seems Chrome is also getting another Edge feature, this time with security enhancements.
Some Microsoft Edge users may not realize this, but the browser actually offers a ‘sign in with device password’ setting. This adds a layer of security when you automatically fill in your password in a form, as it prompts you to enter your device credentials before automatically filling in your password. Essentially, device credentials act as a sort of master password for auto-fill credentials on any website viewed through Edge. This is not the default behavior of Edge, but you can see how to enable it in the screenshot above.
Now, it seems that Chrome may soon have the same feature, which is already available in Chrome Canary. You can see it in action below.
As highlighted in the image, Chrome has made some improvements on Edge by allowing the Windows dialog box to tell you exactly which sites you are granting autofill access to.
This is a nice capability enhancement for the browser, as it adds a security layer. It is also optional, which means that if you don’t want to be prompted every time you auto-fill your password, you can easily leave the browser in its default configuration.
There’s no word yet on when the feature will finally arrive in Chrome’s stable version. As it is currently only available on the Canary channel, it will have to undergo some testing through development and beta before it is available.
Given that it is already available on Edge, it is highly unlikely that this feature will be axed during development.
