The stable version of Chrome 81 has arrived for Windows, Mac and Linux after a couple of weeks of delay brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. As ZDNet notes, Google had to move some of the features it was supposed to ship with to future versions, but it still comes with a few notable updates.

The updated Chrome enables a feature called “app icon badging,” which allows apps and websites to notify users of new activities without interrupting them. It’s much less intrusive than outright notifications and could be the better choice for, say, chat and email apps displaying the number of unread messages. Or social media apps displaying the number of times a user has been tagged in a post.

Last week Google announced it will pause Chrome and Chrome OS releases to deal with its adjusted work schedules as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the company said that it would work to ensure current releases are as stable as possible, and that for now, it will not promote Chrome 81 from beta to stable.

As Chrome Unboxed points out, a post a few days ago explains that the new plan is to skip a milestone release entirely. Director of Technical Program Management Jason Kersey writes in a post the beta channel will remain on version 81 until 83 is ready to promote from the development channel, while 82 will skip its cycle through the process entirely. That could mean an earlier release date than planned for version 83, but no decision has been made there yet.

Chrome 81 is supposed to bring new mixed reality features and a trial of NFC tie-ins to the browser, and HTTPS changes that will remove older protocols and block some content if it tries to load via HTTP on a secure site. About Chromebooks notes Chrome OS features anticipated for version 81 that include easier sideloading of Android Studio apps and an improved Bluetooth pairing setup, but all of that will have to wait, and for good reason.

This also opens the door to tap-based interactions. A new Web NFC framework lets mobile devices interact with tappable objects, again without using a native app or system-level features. You could learn more about a museum piece or check into a conference without needing special software. Again, this won’t be useful until site developers take advantage of it, but the platform will be there.

Chrome 81 will also represent a significant advancement for security. This version of the browser pulls support for the aging TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols that secure HTTPS traffic. They’d been deprecated in Chrome 72, but this release yanks them entirely — any site that still uses the older formats will be labeled insecure. If a site wants to avoid Google’s displeasure, it’ll have to use newer technology (preferably TLS 1.3). While we can’t imagine many popular sites are clinging to the old security standard, this should push holdouts to upgrade.

According to Google, Chrome users now spend over 90 percent of their browsing time on HTTPS on all major platforms. But it’s common for those secure pages to load insecure HTTP subresources. Many of those subresources are blocked by default, but some sneak in as images, audio and video, or “mixed content.” That mixed content can put users at risk.

Beginning with Chrome 79, Chrome will work towards blocking all mixed content by default. To smooth the process, it will introduced the change incrementally. In December, Chrome 79 will add a new setting to unblock mixed content on specific sites. In January 2020, Chrome 80 will autoupgrade all mixed audio and video resources to HTTPS, and it will automatically block them if they fail to load over HTTPS. Finally, in February 2020, Chrome 81 will autoupgrade all mixed images to HTTPS, and as with audio and video, block those that don’t load over HTTPS.

Once the changes are complete, users won’t have to wonder whether the subresources they’re viewing are HTTP or HTTPS. And the slow roll out should give developers time to migrate their mixed content to HTTPS. Though, as we’ve already learned, that “secure” padlock in the address bar, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re safe.