Chrome Canary implements native push notifications on Mac, but feature is not enabled by default; support for merged tabs on Chrome for Android is removed
Abner Li / 9to5Google :
Context & Ripple Effects
Web push has been rolling out unevenly across platforms since Chrome Beta 42 first let sites send notifications after a page closed in March 2015, with Android getting it first and eBay, Facebook, Pinterest, and Product Hunt among the early adopters per the April 2015 launch. Desktop lagged awkwardly — Google removed its own notification center from Windows, Mac, and Linux that October citing low usage (the Chromium Blog post).
Mac support arriving in Canary, disabled by default, closes the platform gap while keeping the feature opt-in for power users — consistent with Google's stated aim of making developers and publishers less dependent on native apps for re-engagement. The same release cycle also strips merged-tabs support from Chrome for Android, where the browser is instead testing a bottom-positioned address bar.
First-order effects
- Publishers on the Canary track gain a path to reach Mac users with site notifications even when no tab is open — the same re-engagement channel eBay and Facebook already used on Android.
Second-order effects
- If Google enables the flag by default in a stable release, as it did on Android, sites that invested in native apps purely for push reach get more reason to treat the browser as their notification layer instead.
Third-order effects
- The flag-first rollout pattern — beta in 2015, Android in 2015, Mac in Canary in 2016 — points toward web push maturing into a default cross-platform capability, eroding one of the clearest remaining advantages native apps held over mobile and desktop websites.
The trend: Browsers are absorbing the notification-and-re-engagement layer that once justified standalone native apps, with Google shipping web push platform by platform behind flags before defaults.