News Google Chrome 86 Android: greater support for gamepads

When a new version for the browser arrives, it usually brings with it several important novelties, although this time it comes with one that captures all the attention and is above the rest of the changes. We are going to mention them all, but above all we are going to focus on the gamepads support for online games. It is a stable version, so it is available to all users and is not a version only aimed at the developer program.

Gamepad support in Google Chrome 86

The new app has this greater compatibility that it grants for Android devices. This feature has been designed by a team developer belonging to Chromium, named Peter LePage. This man has explained the new feature from the Chrome developers website, which we are going to pass on to the readers.

The problem lies with HIDs, which are so-called human interface devices. Of these there is an infinity on the internet, but some more recent and some older. It is a standard for two-way communication between a host and a device which is designed to simplify the installation procedure. The HID protocol was originally developed for USB devices, but has since been implemented in many other protocols, including Bluetooth.

We are talking about web-based games, which we access from the browser and do not have a specific application to play them. As we say, or rather as the Chromium developer says, these interfaces fit greater or lesser compatibility for peripheral controllers, which has been a command to play. What Chrome has done is design an API that allows you to play on any website. The function itself is called WebHID, an API to be able to access these devices through JavaScript.

In this way, WebHID will allow online and web-based games to be compatible with both the gamepad and all its sensors, including joysticks, buttons, sensors, triggers, LED lights, vibration sensors, etc. All users will find the function without having to activate anything at all.

More news Google Chrome 86

This is the main function of this version for Chrome, but there are many others that we have to experiment with and that are also worthy of mention, although it is more on tiptoe. The first goes to aesthetic section, introducing a new design for the Google Chrome options menu. The addition of icons to the elements of said menu or the possibility of grouping these options in three different types are some of the most notable changes.

On the other hand, they have also left room to update some technical aspects of the browser, such as a greater focus on browser security. With Chrome 86, it is possible analyze websites that are visited to see if they pose a risk to our security or not, such as malwares.