Google is currently adapting Chrome to identify the annoying sound-emitting tab on your browser. This has always been a common nuisance among Internet users (especially when pesky autoplaying advertisements come around).
According to TheNextWeb, the new feature was initially found by François Beaufort in the latestChromium build. However, it was later reported to already exist in the latest Canary build of Chrome. Simply put, tabs with sound playing in them will provide an animated audio indicator. This animation will feature a six frame “throbber” animation on the tab icon.
A Chromium Code review said that the animation is currently too short, but it is good enough for testing. It is expected that the animation aesthetics will change if it is included in a public release.
“Note that the tab.cc logic should make it so that the audio indicator is low on the priority,” the report also said. “That is, if the tab is recording or broadcasting and playing sounds that should show instead of the audio animation.”
In layman’s terms, the browser must be able to track tabs that are active. For instance, a user may be listening to music in one tab but using Facebook in another.
Although the feature is currently in the Canary build, there is no guarantee as to if the feature will be officially released publicly.
What do you think of an audio indicator for tabs? Would you find such a feature useful? Have you ever been annoyed by audio in other tabs?