Chrome will soon let you grant one-time website permissions

Google has unveiled a new option for website permissions in the Chrome browser. Customers will soon be able to grant one-time permissions for websites to tailor web capabilities to their likeness. The company plans to roll out the feature for the most common permissions in Chrome 116 on desktops: geolocation, camera, and microphone.

When a website asks the user to allow accessing the camera, location, microphone, and other capabilities, the current Chrome version presents two options: block and allow. Soon, a third button will join the party: clicking "Allow on every visit" will grant permission for the current session only. The "Allow" button will change to "Allow on every visit" to help users better understand the concept.

Google is not the first to introduce improved website permissions—the same capability is available in Safari and Firefox. According to Google, the "Allow this time" option gives customers increased control as some are not ready to make a persistent decision. Sometimes, users want to asses if a specific website provides decent value in return for giving permissions. Granted, you can always adjust your choice in settings, but that requires more time and effort.

Google also says the new option will make more people willing to grant permission. Still, web developers should provide the necessary context and explain the benefit of allowing access to specific capabilities. Finally, the updated controls offer better clarity, making it easier to understand that one option is temporary and another is persistent.

Chrome 116 will expire one-time permission if one of the following conditions is met:

• The user closed the page, navigated away from it, or closed Chrome.
• The user revoked the permission manually, or a policy has overridden it.
• 16 hours have passed since granting permission.
• The page has been in the background for at least 5 minutes.

The initial rollout will only affect three permission types in Chrome 116 for desktops. Other capabilities and mobile devices will remain unaffected by the change. You can learn more about it in a blog post on the official Chrome Developers website. Chrome 116 release is scheduled for August 15, 2023.

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