Tag Archives: Chrome

Bringing Kotlin to the Web

Posted by Vivek Sekhar, Product Manager

This post describes early experimental work from JetBrains and Google. You can learn more in the session on WebAssembly at Google I/O 2023.

Application developers want to reach as many users on as many platforms as they can. Until now, that goal has meant building an app on each of Android, iOS and the Web, as well as building the backend servers and infrastructure to power them.

Image showing infrastructure of Web, Android, and iOS Apps in relation to backend servers and programming support - JavaScript, Kotlin, and Swift respectively

To reduce effort, some developers use multiplatform languages and frameworks to develop their app's business logic and UI. Bringing these multiplatform apps to the Web has previously meant "compiling" shared application code to a slower JavaScript version that can run in the browser. Instead, developers often rewrite their apps in JavaScript, or simply direct Web users to download their native mobile apps.

The Web community is developing a better alternative: direct Web support for modern languages thanks to a new technology called WebAssembly GC. This new Web feature allows cross-platform code written in supported languages to run with near-native performance inside all major browsers.

We're excited to roll-out experimental support for this new capability on the Web for Kotlin, unlocking new code sharing opportunities with faster performance for Android and Web developers.


Kotlin Multiplatform Development on the Web

Kotlin is a productive and powerful language used in 95% of the top 1,000 Android apps. Developers say they are more productive and produce fewer bugs after switching to Kotlin.

The Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile and Compose Multiplatform frameworks from JetBrains help developers share code between their Android and iOS apps. These frameworks now offer experimental support for Kotlin compilation to WebAssembly. Early experiments indicate Kotlin code runs up to 2x faster on the Web using WebAssembly instead of JavaScript.

Image showing infrastructure of Web, Android, and iOS Apps in relation to backend servers and programming support - JavaScript, Kotlin, and Swift respectively

JetBrains shares more details in the release notes for version 1.18.20 of their K2 compiler, as well as documentation on how you can try Kotlin/Wasm with your app.


Pulling it off

Bringing modern mobile languages like Kotlin to the Web required solving challenging technical problems like multi-language garbage collection and JavaScript interoperability. You can learn more in the session on new WebAssembly languages from this year's Google I/O conference.

This work wouldn't have been possible without an open collaboration between browser vendors, academics, and service providers across the Web as part of the W3C WebAssembly Community Group. In the coming weeks, we'll share technical details about this innovative work on the V8 Blog.


Looking ahead: Web and Native Development

For decades, developers have dreamed of the Web as a kind of "universal runtime," while at the same time acknowledging certain feature or performance gaps relative to native platforms. Developers have long had to switch between working on the Web or their native mobile apps.

However, we want to make it possible for you to work on the Web and your native experiences together, not only to help you reduce effort, but also to help you tap into the Web's unique superpowers.

On the open web, your app is just a click away from new users, who can discover it and share it just as easily as they share a web page, with no app stores getting in the way and no revenue split affecting your profitability.

The productivity of cross-platform development, the performance of native mobile apps and the openness of the web. That's why we love WebAssembly.

We can't wait to see what you build next!


"The productivity of cross-platform development, the performance of native mobile apps, and the openness of the Web."

Stable Channel Update for ChromeOS / ChromeOS Flex

Hello All,


The Stable channel is being updated to 112.0.5615.134 (Platform version: 15359.58.0) for most ChromeOS devices and will be rolled out over the next few days.

For Chrome browser fixes, see the Chrome Desktop release announcement.

If you find new issues, please let us know one of the following ways:

Interested in switching channels? Find out how.


Google ChromeOS

Beta Channel Update for ChromeOS and Flex

The Beta channel is being updated to ChromeOS version: 15359.15.0 and Browser version: 112.0.5615.18 for some devices. This build contains a number of bug fixes and security updates and will be rolled out over the next couple days.

If you find new issues, please let us know one of the following ways

  1. File a bug
  2. Visit our ChromeOS communities
    1. General: Chromebook Help Community
    2. Beta Specific: ChromeOS Beta Help Community
  3. Report an issue or send feedback on Chrome

Interested in switching channels? Find out how.


Google ChromeOS.

Beta Channel Update for ChromeOS and Flex

The Beta channel is being updated to ChromeOS version: 15359.15.0 and Browser version: 112.0.5615.18 for some devices. This build contains a number of bug fixes and security updates and will be rolled out over the next couple days.

If you find new issues, please let us know one of the following ways

  1. File a bug
  2. Visit our ChromeOS communities
    1. General: Chromebook Help Community
    2. Beta Specific: ChromeOS Beta Help Community
  3. Report an issue or send feedback on Chrome

Interested in switching channels? Find out how.


Google ChromeOS.

Thank you and goodbye to the Chrome Cleanup Tool

Posted by Jasika Bawa, Chrome Security Team

Starting in Chrome 111 we will begin to turn down the Chrome Cleanup Tool, an application distributed to Chrome users on Windows to help find and remove unwanted software (UwS).

Origin story

The Chrome Cleanup Tool was introduced in 2015 to help users recover from unexpected settings changes, and to detect and remove unwanted software. To date, it has performed more than 80 million cleanups, helping to pave the way for a cleaner, safer web.

A changing landscape

In recent years, several factors have led us to reevaluate the need for this application to keep Chrome users on Windows safe.

First, the user perspective – Chrome user complaints about UwS have continued to fall over the years, averaging out to around 3% of total complaints in the past year. Commensurate with this, we have observed a steady decline in UwS findings on users' machines. For example, last month just 0.06% of Chrome Cleanup Tool scans run by users detected known UwS.

Next, several positive changes in the platform ecosystem have contributed to a more proactive safety stance than a reactive one. For example, Google Safe Browsing as well as antivirus software both block file-based UwS more effectively now, which was originally the goal of the Chrome Cleanup Tool. Where file-based UwS migrated over to extensions, our substantial investments in the Chrome Web Store review process have helped catch malicious extensions that violate the Chrome Web Store's policies.

Finally, we've observed changing trends in the malware space with techniques such as Cookie Theft on the rise – as such, we've doubled down on defenses against such malware via a variety of improvements including hardened authentication workflows and advanced heuristics for blocking phishing and social engineering emails, malware landing pages, and downloads.

What to expect

Starting in Chrome 111, users will no longer be able to request a Chrome Cleanup Tool scan through Safety Check or leverage the "Reset settings and cleanup" option offered in chrome://settings on Windows. Chrome will also remove the component that periodically scans Windows machines and prompts users for cleanup should it find anything suspicious.

Even without the Chrome Cleanup Tool, users are automatically protected by Safe Browsing in Chrome. Users also have the option to turn on Enhanced protection by navigating to chrome://settings/security – this mode substantially increases protection from dangerous websites and downloads by sharing real-time data with Safe Browsing.

While we'll miss the Chrome Cleanup Tool, we wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge its role in combating UwS for the past 8 years. We'll continue to monitor user feedback and trends in the malware ecosystem, and when adversaries adapt their techniques again – which they will – we'll be at the ready.

As always, please feel free to send us feedback or find us on Twitter @googlechrome.