Chrome 92 Highlights: Array.at, crypto.randomUUID, Canvas P3, Web Bluetooth

Background

Chrome 92 was officially released on July 20, 2021. It brings 14 new features and updates the V8 JavaScript engine to version 9.2.

TL;DR

Chrome 92 does not have a single groundbreaking feature, but Array.prototype.at() is quite useful.

Release date: 2021‑07‑20.

Number of new features: 14 (see Chrome Platform Status for details).

V8 engine version: 9.2.

Key features of interest: Array.prototype.at(), crypto.randomUUID(), Canvas color management, Web Bluetooth manufacturer data filter.

Array.prototype.at()

Traditionally developers retrieve the last element of an array with A[A.length - 1], which is verbose. Chrome 92 adds native support for Array.prototype.at(), allowing a concise A.at(-1) call.

const A = [1, 2, 3, 4];
console.log(A[A.length - 1]); // old way

The new syntax reduces code length and improves readability.

const A = [1, 2, 3, 4];
console.log(A.at(-1)); // new way

The method is also available on String and TypedArray objects. The underlying ECMAScript proposal ( proposal‑relative‑indexing‑method ) is at stage 3 and is expected to become standard next year.

crypto.randomUUID()

Generating unique identifiers is a common task in web development. While many projects rely on the uuid npm package, Chrome 92 introduces crypto.randomUUID(), which creates RFC 4122 version 4 compliant UUIDs directly in the browser.

This method is already supported in Node.js 14.17.0, meaning backend code can also use the native API, potentially reducing reliance on external libraries.

Because other browsers (Firefox, Safari) do not yet support it, developers still need a fallback for cross‑browser projects.

Security note: Math.random() is a pseudo‑random generator and can be predictable if the internal seed is known. For cryptographic purposes, the Web Cryptography API’s crypto.getRandomValues() (a CSPRNG) should be used. crypto.randomUUID() is built on this CSPRNG, making it safe for most applications, although it is not yet a W3C standard.

Canvas color management

Historically the 2D canvas API only supported the sRGB color space. Chrome 92 adds the ability to create a canvas with the wider Display‑P3 gamut, improving color fidelity for images, video, design, games, and e‑commerce.

canvas.getContext('2d', { colorSpace: 'display-p3' });

Display‑P3 covers about 25 % more of the visible spectrum than sRGB, resulting in noticeably brighter and more accurate colors.

Web Bluetooth manufacturer data filter

Web Bluetooth has been in development for over six years but remains outside the W3C standard and is unsupported by Safari and Firefox. Chrome 92 adds a manufacturer‑data filter, allowing web applications to show only Bluetooth devices from specific manufacturers.

This enhancement makes it easier to build web‑based controls for devices such as LEDs, toys, drones, and other IoT hardware.

Conclusion

Maintaining a series of deep‑dive blog posts about Chrome releases is challenging, but each version offers valuable learning opportunities. Chrome 92 may not be revolutionary, yet its incremental improvements—especially the new JavaScript APIs and canvas color management—provide practical benefits for frontend developers.

References

Chrome 92: Web Apps as File Handlers, New JavaScript Features, and More

V8 release v9.2

proposal‑relative‑indexing‑method (stage 3)

crypto.randomUUID is three times faster than uuid.v4

Get Started with Display P3

WebBluetooth demos for Bluetooth.rocks