Google Chrome beta gets interactive notifications

Google is experimenting with richer, interactive notifications within its beta Chrome browser and Chrome OS. Those using the Chrome beta channel will get a glimpse into the future of notifications for the browser. Chrome OS users will have to enable the notifications in the settings. Currently, Google Chrome has very basic notifications for things like chat alerts, music, and 3rd party apps. These work well if you just want a quick notification but they don’t let you interact with the content. That changes today.

There’s also more evidence that Google Now will be coming to Chrome soon, since there’s now a setting in Chrome OS to enable it, but the feature doesn’t work yet.

With the richer notifications in Chrome, you can now respond immediately. For example, if a contact calls you using Google Voice or tries to chat with you on Hangouts, you will get a notification with the person’s profile picture, information, and the ability to call/email them right from the notification.

If you’re away while a notification is displayed, you can go into the notification center to see them all at once. The notification center bears a striking resemblance to Android’s own notification shade. Emails will be grouped together in the same “card.” Users will also find settings that allow them to choose which applications and extensions are allowed to give notifications.

If you want to try out the notifications yourself, you can download the Chrome Beta below.

[Source: Chrome Blog | Download: Softonic]