Google is finally rolling out Chrome 53 for Android and the new version brings a number of exciting goodies, including credit card and Android Pay support.
Chrome 53 has been in the developer channel for a good while, but is only now making its way to devices as a stable release. The latest Chrome Android release bumps up the app from version 52 to 53 and it's rolling out in stages.
As always, the latest update packs a number of new features, tweaks and improvements to enhance the overall experience. Perhaps the most substantial upgrade is the newly added support for credit cards and Android Pay.
With built-in support for Android Pay, for instance, Chrome 53 will enable users to make payments quickly and easily while shopping online. Upon releasing Android Pay, Google promised that it will port the payment functionality to the web as well, and it's finally making good on its word.
Users can make easy and secure payments on the web using Android Pay or a credit card, thanks to Google's new implementation of Payment Request API. With this web standard, Chrome 53 can handle one-tap checkout on shopping sites. Since Payment Request is a standard, and not one of Google's proprietary features, other platforms and browsers will implement it as well.
To get a better idea of what this Payment Request API entails, you can watch the video embedded below.
In addition to support for credit cards and Android Pay, the new Chrome 53 for Android also brings support for autoplaying mute videos. This feature was previously disabled, which means that users had to click on a video if they wanted to watch it.
While mute videos will autoplay, clips that attempt to start playing automatically with sound will be immediately paused in Chrome 53.
Other tweaks and enhancements Chrome 53 for Android brings to the table include performance improvements, battery life enhancements, the usual mix of bug fixes and other tweaks under the hood.
Google has already started rolling out Chrome 53 for Android, but since it's a phased rollout the update will not reach all users and regions at the same time. Nevertheless, Android users can head over to Google Play and check whether the update is available yet for their device.
Chrome 53 for Android follows the release of Chrome 53 for desktop last week, when Google showcased the speed and battery life improvements via the Microsoft Surface Book.
If you already tried out the latest Chrome 53, drop by our comment section and tell us what you think of it.
