Microsoft Edge 84 Introduces Storage Access API To Improve Privacy

Microsoft Edge 84 is now available for the desktop users and it comes with support for Storage Access API, PDF reader improvements, and more.

What’s new in Microsoft Edge 84

Here’s everything new, improved, and fixed in Edge 84 update:

Full Screen mode

Microsoft Edge 84 updates full screen mode to enable support for mouse. You can use your mouse to access tabs, the address bar, and other items without having to exit full screen mode.

Internet Explorer mode

Microsoft Edge 84 provides improved site list download times for Internet Explorer mode. Microsoft says they have reduced the download delay when you use the Internet Explorer mode.

For developers, Microsoft has also added group policy support for cases when Internet Explorer mode home page navigations need to be delayed until the site list is downloaded.

Sign-in fix

Edge now allows you to sign-into the browser when you run it as “administrator” intentionally or accidentally

Storage Access API

With this API, Microsoft Edge enables access to first-party storage in a third-party context when a user provides a “direct intent” to allow storage. If you don’t provide access to your storage, it would be blocked by Microsoft Edge’s default or current configuration.

“As privacy is becoming increasingly important to users, requests for stricter browser defaults and user opt-in settings like blocking all third-party storage access are increasingly common. While these settings help improve privacy and block unwanted access by unknown or untrusted parties, they can have unwanted side effects such as blocking access to content the user may want to view (for example, social media and embedded media content,” Microsoft said.

Also read: 7 Client Data Protection Tips to Keep Customers Safe

PDF improvements

Enables Read Aloud for PDF: This lets you listen to PDF content and still do other things that may be important for you. This also helps audio visual learners focus on reading the content.
PDF file editing is improved: You can save an edit made to a PDF back to the file instead of saving a copy each time you edit the PDF.

All other improvements:

The Native File System API, which means you can give sites permissions to edit files or folders via the Native File System API.
Online purchase improvement. Add custom nicknames to saved debit or credit cards. Now you can distinguish and differentiate your credit cards when making online purchases. Nicknaming your debit or credit cards lets you choose the correct card when using autofill to select a payment method.
A note capability is added that lets you add a note or comment to an item in a collection. Notes are grouped together and stay attached to an item even if you sort the items in a collection. To try this new feature, right-click on an item and select “Add note”.
Microsoft Edge now enables Translation in the Immersive Reader. When a user opens the Immersive Reader view, they get the option to translate the page to their desired language.
DevTools supports customizing keyboard shortcuts to match your editor/IDE, which includes VS Code. For more details, see What’s New In DevTools (Microsoft Edge 84).
You can change the background color of notes in collections. You can use color coding to help you organize information and increase productivity.
There are noticeable performance improvements, which lets you export your collections to Excel in less time than in previous versions of Microsoft Edge.

Download Microsoft Edge 84 offline installers

If you can’t wait for the update to roll out to your device, you can head to the Microsoft Edge’s enterprise page and follow these steps to download Edge 84 offline installer: