Google Chrome Working on Advanced Picture-in-Picture Feature for Video Conferencing, Custom Video Player

Google is reportedly working on a more advanced Picture-in-Picture (PiP) for Chrome browser that will bring additional functions for users. The new development has been spotted on the Chrome Developers website. The new ‘Document in Picture-in-Picture’ will bring in more advanced tools than the existing one, including custom controls and inputs, the ability to combine multiple streams into a single PiP, and more. The current Picture-in-Picture support for videos allows only a few inputs and limited ability for styling them. But the new Document in PiP for Chrome will bring more custom controls and inputs for the PiP window.

According to the details shared by Google on Chrome Developers page, the new Document in PiP will enable users to open an always-on-top window with arbitrary HTML content. It will also extend the existing Picture-in-Picture API for video to a PiP window. Additionally, Document in Picture-in-Picture will also improve video experience by offering more custom controls and inputs like captions, playlists, and time scrubber, as well as the ability to like and dislike videos.

Further, the new Document in PiP will also combine multiple streams into a single PiP during video conferencing, the developer page said. It will also include options like sending a message, muting another user, and raising a hand.

The new feature is already available in origin trial with Chrome 111. Users can test the API on desktop by enabling the chrome://flags/#document-picture-in-picture-api flag. Users can register themselves for Chrome’s new Document in PiP via the developer’s portal developer.chrome.com.

Meanwhile, Chrome has also been spotted working on an ability to translate text within images in the web browser. The said feature has been spotted in a new Chromium source code, hinting that a new option will be added to Chrome translation feature. Once added, it will be activated with a feature flag. The new translation option will appear in Chrome’s context menu after the rest of the text on the page will be translated by the browser. Currently, one can translate entire web pages by tapping on the translate option available under the menu.