Chrome 19 goes stable, syncs tabs on all your devices

When you pump out new software releases as often as Google and Mozilla do nowadays, it’s not always easy to cram in an exciting new feature every time you bump the version number. Today, however, Chrome 19 arrived with at least one worth noting: tab sync.

Tab sync first popped up way back in August of 2011 as “foreign sessions” on the sync preferences screen. Now, nine months later, it’s finally made the jump to Chrome’s stable channel with a much friendlier name. If you’re signed into a Google account, the magic happens quietly in the background (though it’s rolling out to users gradually, the same way new features do on Google’s web apps). Call up the new tab page and you’ll see a new addition to the bottom: other devices. Click it, and Chrome will display what you last had open everywhere you’ve signed in — including your Chromebook and Android device, if you happen to be using the Chrome beta. It’ll probably even pick up browsing sessions from Chrome on your new LG G2 Google TV.

Smooth scrolling support has also been added to Chrome 19, though the option to enable it has not yet appeared on Chrome’s settings screens. While there aren’t many other front-facing changes waiting for you, Chrome 19 also includes support for “Harmony,” the next generation of JavaScript. It’s due to arrive later this year, and Google has called it the “most comprehensive upgrade in the history of this language.” Several more security bugs have also been squashed, and the usual suspects raked in just over $7,000 in bounties.

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