Google is testing a ‘play’ button for video in Chrome browser

Google is working on a ‘play’ button for the Chrome browser that will allow you to pause or resume fast-playing videos in any tab. This should make it easier to manage video content in open tabs.

The button is still being tested at the time of writing, but has already been discovered by several media outlets, including ZDnet. It concerns the so-called Global Media Controls, which Google has currently enabled in its Canary test channel. Those who use the test version of the Chrome browser will see an extra button in the toolbar, with which a video can be paused if it is played in one of the tabs. To do this, the flag chrome://flags/#global-media-controls must be turned on.

It thereby becomes possible to control videos in all Chrome tabs; so it is not necessary to have the video in the tab that the user has on his screen. The function also works for audio and can be used to go to the previous or next video clip, but according to ZDnet it is still an early version that often stops working. As a result, it will probably take some time before the test period is completed.

The new button, which simply looks like a “play” button, is coming to the versions of Chrome for Windows, Linux, and Mac. However, it is not yet known when Google plans to release the new functionality outside the test channels. It was already possible in Chrome to turn audio on and off in a certain tab, but for that the user needs to know in which tab the audio is played.