By now, most browsers know that it"s common for tabs to randomly start playing audio, which is especially annoying when the sound isn"t coming from your active tab and you have lots of them open. Currently, the solution most browser vendors have come to is a mute button next to the title of each tab, but finding the tab to blame can still take up some time and focus.
Because of that, Google is adding a new media hub to its Chrome browser. It"s a new button that will be next to your profile picture, and it lets you see the media that"s playing in the browser, regardless of what tab it is.
It"s more capable than a simple mute button, too, since it actually gives the user playback controls. You can pause the playback or skip to the next video or track on websites that support it, making it possible to make your way through a playlist without needing to leave your current tab.
This feature isn"t completely new - Google has included it in Chrome OS since August of last year. But starting today, Chrome users on Windows, macOS, and Linux can also manage their browser"s audio more easily. Now, it just remains to be seen if other browsers will follow suit or stick with the current mute method.