Chrome flags and cool features that are experimental, potentially dangerous, but potentially awesome.

[Vitalius]

Hi guys,

So when I realized that Chrome was blocking Youtube embeds on LTT due to them being non-secure (as Youtube embeds don't use HTTPS, thus causing Chrome to block them as "unsafe scripts"), I started searching for a way to prevent Chrome from doing this. 

My solution was a bit heavy handed, but worked. Add the flag "--allow-running-insecure-content" to your Chrome shortcut. However, this will mean that any website you load with this Chrome (where the flag is enabled/used) will load unsecure scripts automatically. Which is a huge potential security risk. Do this at your own discretion.

In my Googling, I found the "chrome:*//flags" page, remove the *, and in it are a bunch of flags/features that are experimental for Chrome. I had to add the * because it kept making an entire line of text just disappear as it is probably trying to make it a link, but failing since the protocol is "chrome" and not "http".

Overall, I found some pretty cool flags. Some dangerous ones, and some interesting ones (and combinations thereof). Here is a list of the ones I particularly liked:

• Stacked Tabs
  Tabs don't get smaller, they just stack. Here is a picture of an example of what it potentially does:
  
  
  
  Which was pulled from this thread.
   
• FPS Counter 
  Gives you the FPS a website is running at if hardware acceleration is enabled. Kinda funny honestly. 
• Enable Password Generation 
  Chrome makes a password for you to use for accounts when it detects an account creation page.
• Enable Performance Monitoring 
  Passively gathers performance data and displays it graphically for you.
• Enable Online Cache mode 
  When the source is unavailable, it reads from your cache to give a webpage.
• Track time spent on each page
  (self explanatory)

Just search the flags page using Control + F (Find) with the emboldened & underlined text to find the flag I list.

Here is what is at the top of the page in "chrome:*//flags":

WARNING These experimental features may change, break, or disappear at any time. We make absolutely no guarantees about what may happen if you turn one of these experiments on, and your browser may even spontaneously combust. Jokes aside, your browser may delete all your data, or your security and privacy could be compromised in unexpected ways. Any experiments you enable will be enabled for all users of this browser. Please proceed with caution.Interested in cool new Chrome features? Try our beta channel at chrome.com/beta.

So do any of this at your own risk, like I said before regarding discretion.

There are quite a lot of site orientation flags (such as, fixed position elements, compositing for fixed root backgrounds, etc.), but I don't use those myself, though they can be useful, I'm sure. 

Here is Chrome's Wiki regarding flags for those curious.

Thanks,
Vitalius

[beebskadoo]

HI, thanks for the info

[helping]

 

 

we can have rows of tabs?

[Kirihuna]

I'd say just return the site back to http tbh. 

[Vitalius]

I'd say just return the site back to http tbh.

Fraps gives me an FPS counter sometimes

HI, thanks for the info

we can have rows of tabs?

Note that I had to rewrite some of it because if you type chrome:*//flags without the *, it deletes your line of text that it's on when trying to make a URL, since the protocol is a weird one like "chrome" and not "https". So go back if you are interested in reading a bit more.

[Vitalius]

we can have rows of tabs?

Yes, and we can have grouped tabs too via the "Add grouping to tab context menu" flag. So I can have my "tech news" group, and my "video group" and my IRC group and the like.

[c4pt1n54n0]

Huh, I enabled stacking tabs but it didnt change anything, restarted twice

[Vitalius]

Huh, I enabled stacking tabs but it didnt change anything, restarted twice

Wow, I didn't test it out, but that is not at all what I thought it was. 

It's nothing like in the picture in the OP. It stacks the tabs on top of one another. Like a deck of cards. I will update the OP to reflect this later. Kinda cool, but kinda useless.