Google Chrome is developing advanced picture-in-picture features for video conferencing, custom video players

Google is reportedly working on a more advanced picture-in-picture (PiP) for Chrome, which will bring additional functionality to users. A new development has been spotted on the Chrome developer site. The new PiP Documentation will introduce more advanced tools than existing tools, including custom controls and inputs, the ability to combine multiple streams into a single PiP, and more. The current picture-in-picture support for video only allows a small number of inputs, and the ability to style them is limited. But new documentation in PiP for Chrome will bring more custom controls and inputs to the PiP window.

According to details shared by Google on the Chrome developer page, new documentation in PiP will enable users to open an always-on-top window containing arbitrary HTML content. It will also extend the existing video picture-in-picture API to PiP windows. Additionally, picture-in-picture documents will improve the video experience by providing more custom controls and inputs such as subtitles, playlists, and time sliders, as well as the ability to like and dislike videos.

Additionally, the new documentation in PiP will also combine multiple streams into a single PiP during a video conference, the developer page says. It will also include options to send messages, mute other users, and raise your hand.

The new features are already available in the original beta of Chrome 111. Users can test the API on desktop by enabling the chrome://flags/#document-picture-in-picture-api flag. Users can register for Chrome’s new documentation in the PiP through the developer portal developer.chrome.com.

At the same time, Chrome was also found to be working on translating text in images in the web browser. The aforementioned functionality has been spotted in new Chromium source code, suggesting that a new option will be added to the Chrome translation feature. Once added, it will be activated with a feature flag. After the rest of the text on the page has been translated by the browser, the new translation option will appear in Chrome’s context menu. Currently, it is possible to translate an entire web page by clicking on the translate option available under the menu.