If you’re a regular user of Google Chrome, then your life is going to become a lot easier with the release of Chrome 73. This is because the popular internet browser will add support for the Media Session API.
On Windows 10 PCs, the API will allow Chrome to use the native media controls which people can use to control media playback. Also, Chrome will be able to support the hardware media keys present on devices.
The Chrome status page describes Media Session as an API that “enables websites to customize media metadata so they can control the notification and lock screen UI. Also allows control of media from outside a page, as well as using platform UIs and managing media keys.”
The change was confirmed by Chrome’s Becca Hughes on Chromium.org. So, what it means is, if you’re playing music videos on YouTube, you could minimize the browser and use the physical keys on the keyboard to play and pause the video. Hopefully, other sites will be able to support the new functionality without any issue.
This adds to the list of Chrome’s native features which include support for Windows 10 Notifications and support for dark theme that is also on the cards.
The API is already present on Android since Chrome 57. In addition to Windows 10, Google is also adding the API to Linux, macOS, and of course the ChromeOS.
