Using Google Chrome, a Web Designer’s Experience, Part 5: The Little Things
I’ve discussed issues I’ve noticed with Google Chrome that are specifically related to using it for building web sites. There are a few other minor annoyances about Google Chrome that add up to big hassles when you combine the time they waste throughout the day, and these are likely to affect any user, not just those of us with our digital hard hats donned.
RSS Feeds
Chrome doesn’t handle RSS Feeds natively by default. Is that redundant? Can Natives be Defaults? Only if their parents are interested in unusual names. But enough with the hilarious jokes making you laugh too loud in your cubicle, aka, the bus you’re reading this on. While I understand that the majority of users don’t know what RSS is let alone use it, it’s a handy protocol that’s changing the way people consume information and will continue to do so at a growing rate as Grandpa checks into the afterlife and little Suzy’s desk at school is replaced by a giant iPad. With Chrome, you either have to use an extension to read RSS feeds, or open Firefox. I don’t want to use extensions, the whole point of using Google Chrome is to keep it raw and fast, as Firefox as a browser is still better functionality-wise, just not in the performance department.
Gmail Support
Click a myemailaddressis@gmail.com link in a browser and Chrome tries opening up Outlook, Mail, or whatever your default desktop email client is. I don’t use a desktop client, and like everyone else who isn’t still wearing scrunchy socks or remembering how great the 1800s were, I use Gmail for my Internet communication type things. Google makes Gmail, Google makes Chrome, but Google doesn’t let Gmail and Chrome play nicely together. I can only assume it’s because of that one time that they were left alone at the house for the weekend while Mama and Pappa Google went off to the Bahamas and the two of them threw an online bash like nothing Windows ME could have ever imagined. So the only solution to avoid having Mail open up on me every time I want to easily send an email to someone is to copy/paste the address, switch over to a tab running Gmail, and proceed from there like I’m some kind of common task manager.
Up Next: Using Google Chrome, a Web Designer’s Experience, Part 4: Bookmark’s Toolbar