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Chrome 33 brings some bad news for those who dislike the updated new tab page.


Until now, you could disable the new interface in chrome://flags: the Instant Extended API flag allowed you to do that. In Chrome 33, the flag has been removed.


Google says that "there are no plans at the moment to provide a way built into Chrome to change the new tab page. You can find a number of alternative New Tabs in the Web Store".

There's a Chrome extension that redirects the new tab page to chrome://apps and shows the apps you've installed. You can also set the new tab page to an empty page or pick any other page.


To learn how to use the updated new tab page, check this Help Center article. Recently visited pages are in the Chrome menu, apps have a dedicated page you can find in the bookmarks bar, there's also an app launcher you can use.

Last year, Google released a completely new Google Maps interface for desktop, but made it opt-in. Since then, the Google Maps team fixed bugs, improved performance and added some of the missing features (Pegman, My Location, short URLs, multi-point directions). The next step is obvious: the new Google Maps will become the default version.

"Over the coming weeks, the new Google Maps will make its way onto desktops around the world. Many of you have been previewing it since its debut last May, and thanks to your helpful feedback we're ready to make the new Maps even more widely available," informs Google.

The new Google Maps promised to bring an immersive experience, a personalized map that shows what's relevant and helps you make smarter decisions using recommendations from your Google+ circles. It's a simplified interface that's closer to the mobile UI. Google removed some of the features from the classic interface and focused on the basics: a map you're encouraged to explore, unified directions that show the best options, instant search, permalinks, panoramic images, Google Earth and Street View without plugins.


Classic Google Maps is still available: you can switch by clicking the "?" icon at the bottom of the page and selecting "Return to classic Google Maps". You'll see this message: "You have switched back to classic Google Maps for this session. Remember this choice for next time?". Click "Yes" to always go to the old interface when visiting Google Maps.

After many months of experiments, YouTube's new interface is finally available to everyone. The layout is center aligned, the header is sticky, the guide sidebar is now a "hamburger"-style menu that includes your playlists, subscriptions and more.

"YouTube now has a center-aligned look, fitting neatly on any screen size, and feeling similar to the mobile apps you're spending almost half your YouTube time with. You can quickly flip between what's recommended and popular in 'What to Watch' like Postmodern Jukebox's Timber, and the latest from your subscribed channels like iamOTHER in 'My Subscriptions,' with both options now front and center. Click the guide icon to the right of the YouTube logo at any time to see your playlists, subscriptions and more."






You can also check some screenshots from YouTube's experiments: July, September, October, November.

If you want to install the Google+ Auto Backup app for desktop without first installing Picasa, here are the direct links to the setup files:

Windows: https://dl.google.com/dl/edgedl/picasa/gpautobackup_setup.exe

Mac: https://dl.google.com/dl/edgedl/picasa/gpautobackup_setup.dmg


After installing the software in Windows, search for Auto Backup in the Start menu/screen, click "Google+ Auto Backup" and log in to your Google account.


"It's now easier than ever to back up all of your photos with Google+ Auto-backup, available with Picasa for Windows and Mac. Automatically sync photos from your desktop computer and any time that you connect a phone, camera or storage card to Google+," informs Google.

If you go to Google+ Photos, you might see this message and a download button: "Back up photos automatically from your computer. Automatically save your photos and videos online with Google+ Auto Backup. They'll be private to you until you choose to share them, and easy to get to from all your devices."


{ Thanks, Jérôme. }

If you want to temporarily turn on Google's SafeSearch, you can do that without opening the settings page. Just click the gear icon and select "turn on SafeSearch". When SafeSearch is enabled, you'll see a message next to gear button: "SafeSearch on". To disable it, click the same button and select "turn off SafeSearch".


"With SafeSearch, you can help prevent adult content from appearing in your search results. No filter is 100 percent accurate, but SafeSearch should help you avoid most of this type of material," explains Google.

If you're logged in, search settings are saved to your account and used for all devices. You can also go to the settings page and enable "Filter explicit results"

Chrome's data compression proxy is only available for Android and iOS, but Jerzy Głowacki figured out a way to bring this feature to the desktop. Just install this extension and it enables the proxy. You can check the savings by visiting chrome://net-internals/#bandwidth and disable it by clicking the button from the toolbar.


"The extension sends all HTTP (but not HTTPS) traffic through Chrome Data Compression Proxy server, which uses SPDY protocol to speed up web browsing. Enabled state is indicated by a green icon. You can manually disable the proxy by clicking on the icon."

I've checked the code and it looks OK. It's also available here. Please note that this extension is not developed by Google, it's experimental and might not work properly for all sites.

{ Thanks, Jerzy. }

Now you no longer need to remember search operators to filter Gmail results by size. Gmail's advanced search added a new option that lets you restrict results to messages larger or smaller than the specified size. Just click the arrow from the search box, pick "greater than" or "less than", enter the size, choose from "MB", "KB" or "Bytes" and click the search button. You can also add other filters.

"Ever wanted to find that wedding video your uncle shared as an attachment, or see which messages take up the most space in your mailbox? You can now search your emails by size in advanced search without having to memorize search operators like size: and larger:," informs Google.