Google has started rolling out Chrome 54 beta for Android with a number of new improvements related to media playback. The major new feature that is going to make a lot of users happy is the ability for the browser to continue playing media in the background.

This means that Chrome will now continue playing a media (video/audio) even if you switch tabs or put the app in the background. This will be particularly useful if you use YouTube or Vimeo to listen to music rather regularly. The catch here is that when you first switch away from Chrome, the media playback will stop. You will have to tap on the notification in the notification bar to resume playback. And if websites want, they can disable this functionality.

Another major change that is a part of this update is a redesigned New Tab page. Gone are the bookmarks to your frequently accessed site. Instead, Chrome now recommends you articles to read. There are a bunch of other new improvements in Chrome 54 for Android (and Mac/Windows) that will help developers in providing a better browsing experience to users. Make sure to read about all of them by hitting the source link below.