Google Chrome is said to be developing a feature that will allow users to quickly mute the tab that is playing the sound with just one click. The feature is available to users to try out and must be activated manually. Users can quickly mute and unmute a specific tab without switching to it, which can be useful when tabs start playing sounds unexpectedly. According to Google, the click-to-mute feature is being tested and may or may not make its way to a future version of Chrome.
ONE Chrome browser flag enabling the ability to mute and unmute tabs recently discovered by Reddit users Leopevaand spot of Chrome Stories. This feature is currently available in the latest (unstable) nightly version of Google Chrome, also known as Google Chrome Canary. Enabling a flag allows the user to quickly mute any visible tabs that are playing audio. This can be useful for tabs with websites that automatically play video ads or other unwanted media playback.
Click-to-mute feature is working on Google Chrome Canary
Image credit: Chrome Story
Currently, Google Chrome shows indicators on tabs to show media status – a speaker icon indicates audio is playing, while a recording icon indicates a web page is using a camera or microphone. Up until now, users would have to right-click the tab playing the audio, then select Mute Tab. With the new tab sound muting UI control, users can simply click the speaker icon to quickly mute a tab.
Users who want to try this feature will need to download and install the latest version of Chrome Canary for Windows, Mac OSor Linux – they will be able to use their regular Chrome installation side-by-side with Chrome Canary. Users will need to type chrome://flags in the address bar, then search for “Audio Mute Controls Tab”, enable the flag, and restart Chrome Canary. According to the description of the flag, the new tab mute controls can be tested on macOS, Windows, Linux, Chrome OSand Fuchsia OS.
However, the feature that is currently available for final testing may not appear in the browser. According to Chrome’s flags section, Google is comparing the use of tab muting, along with global media controls. The company has yet to reveal whether the feature will appear in the tab bar or end up in Chrome’s global media controls, which also allow users to control media playback from open tabs.
