As one of the most popular browser, Google Chrome is testing a new option for the Mac version that allows Chrome to support native OS X notification push. Chrome has been using its own in-house notification system before creating the built-in version in OS X, and users have been long complaining about Chrome not utilizing OS X’s notification system. Now this option allows the use of native push notification for the first time. Once enabled, Chrome notifications will be delivered in the same way other alerts on OS X, and Mac users can see Chrome notifications arrive via the native OS X notification interface. Get to know more about this feature?
Though the feature is till in testing, Mac users on even the stable channel of Chrome can enable it with a flag. To turn this native option on, you need to enter this into your Chrome URL bar and then click Enable: chrome://flags/#enable-native-notifications. And the setting will take effect after the relaunch of Chrome. The feature allows Chrome notifications to run through OS X Notification Center, and users can view them in Notification Center alone with other notifications, all of which obey “Do Not Disturb” settings. It also has other implications – the Rich Notification API will no longer work since the OS X does not support such customization.
A developer on the Chromium site notes that the Chrome teams “are actively working on integrating with the OS X native notification center”, and that the feature is already available in the latest Chrome canary build. It should also be pointed out that the Notification Center feature is still in active development, and users who choose to turn this option on might run into some bugs or incompatibilities. Google developers also note that the version you’ll see in the current Chrome release is different to what’s being tested in its unstable nightly builds right now.
As for whether or not the native notification center support will become a full-fledged feature in Chrome, the team warns that “it is not 100% clear either way as we may run into certain roadblocks.”
Anyway, if you have tried this new feature, welcome to share your thoughts with us here.
