Web Bluetooth
You can access user-selected Bluetooth devices over GATT.
You can try it in Chrome behind flags:chrome://flags/#enable-web-bluetooth
If you wish to learn more on the web Bluetooth, try this the demo code.
Last note, for more details on the implementation (e.g. which pieces are done in which releases) star this repo github.com/WebBluetoothCG/
DevTools
Want to stay updated with all the new powerful features that Chrome DevTools got for you? Check this DevTools Tonight show pilot or a daily tip.
Monetization
Learn about Monetization (from web/app to bitcoins and more!) with this new series we created on Google Developers Channel.
Btw, if you like blog posts, we got you covered as well right on this blog.
Async CSS
Controlling async CSS using custom properties. Turns out they’re quite powerful.
Since <link> in the <body> blocks the parser while the CSS loads, it might be good to build a dependency mechanism where each element is render-blocked until other specific elements have rendered.
Sounds complicated?
It’s not. Check this demo (please make sure to try it with Chrome Canary or Firefox). In this demo, the CSS is loaded async, with each sheet taking randomly between 0-5 seconds to load. Despite this, the page never renders out of order, and each section renders as soon as possible depending on the browser width.
Progressive web apps
Wanna see some good examples of Progressive web apps? This is the new way to build for the web at 2016.
We wish to have a web app got:
- Fast loading – Since we are caching everything and using smooth animations and navigations, everything feels fast. Because it is.
- One click away from accessing content (e.g. icon on the user’s phone).
- Re-engages with push notifications – We are using service workers so we have the ability to run a script in the background and send push notifications. Even when the browser is not visible to the user.
- Good experience on flaky network connections.
- Consistent experience across browsers
Here is a good list of PWA to show you by example.
Reminders
- From May 15th, Chrome will no longer support SPDY (and NPN) in favor of HTTP/2.
- The popularity of the proxy browsers and transcoding services is also an indicator that we—the site owners and web developers—are ignoring the high user demand for fast and light applications and pages. Let’s fix that. Learn how: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/02/save-data
- Starting in July 2016, you’ll no longer be able to upload display ads built in Flash. And, starting in January 2017, AdWords will stop running display ads in the Flash format.
So it is a good time to update your flash ads to HTML5 ads.
Media Land
- Record audio and video with the MediaRecorder API: in Firefox and Chrome on Android and desktop.
- VP9 is now available for WebRTC: With VP9, internet connections that are currently able to serve 720p without packet loss or delay will be able to support a 1080p video call at the same bandwidth. VP9 can also reduce data usage for users with poor connections or expensive data plans, requiring in best cases only 40% of the bitrate of VP8.
- How often do people watch online videos via their smartphone?: from Google Barometer
Thanks for reading!