Google today released Chrome 86 on the fixed channel, and this new release brings many security enhancements and new APIs for developers.
Each new version of Chrome usually focuses on one main theme. For example, Chrome 84 focused on user interface enhancements, while Chrome 85 focused on speed enhancements and APIs.
So the new version 86 of Chrome comes with many improvements in passwords and security in general, but also with many new APIs along with the removal of old ones.
In December 2019, in Chrome 79 Google added a feature called Password Checkup, which took user passwords to check if they had been leaked to Internet.
With Chrome 86, Google reports that this feature (also known as Safety Check as of May 2020) is now coming to versions of Chrome for cell phones with Android and iOS.
Additionally in the new Chrome 86, Safety Check supports the ".well-known / change-password" template
This is a W3C template that allows sites to specify the URL where users can go to change their passwords.
Chrome 86 with the support in this template will enable users to be able to press a button on the password settings screen to go directly to the password change page, instead of searching through the structure of a website.
Google also extended the touch-to-fill feature to iOS. It was originally released for Android devices in July. The feature was created to prevent users from auto-filling passwords on phishing sites, but also allows users to fill passwords into forms connections with the click of a finger, without having to search through dozens or hundreds or entries to select the appropriate credentials.
With Chrome 86, this new feature will also be available on iOS, as an added security feature offering biometric authentication before passwords are automatically filled in. This includes using Face ID, Touch ID or their phone password as a last resort.