Microsoft releases Edge Insider Dev Channel build 76.0.167.1, fixes launch bug, adds translator, dark mode

Microsoft’s usual early Friday Dev Channel update to the new Chromium based Edge hit a bit of a snag this morning when some testers found that the browser wouldn’t launch. That build, 76.0.167.0, was quickly pulled, and the Edge team has rereleased the latest Dev Channel build with that issue now fixed.

In addition, this week’s Edge Dev build has a number of interesting new features, here’s the list:

• The built-in translator has now rolled out to everyone. We’d appreciate it if you’d let us know how it works on your sites in your language. Just use the send feedback smiley button.
• Dark mode, which many of you have enabled manually via a configuration flag, is now on by default for everyone. To see Microsoft Edge in dark mode, you will need to change your Windows or macOS system settings.
• Keyword search for the address bar is now enabled. When you begin to type the “keyword” for a search engine into the address bar, you will be reminded that you can press tab to search using that engine. You can also type the entire keyword and press space to enter keyword search mode. If you continue typing and press enter, you will navigate directly to search results for that search engine. You may also see search suggestions from that engine as you type. Keyword search is available for all search engines you install or which are automatically detected for you as you browse. To manage search engines, open Settings, then Privacy and services, then Address bar, then Manage search engines. Here you can add or delete search engines AND customize the keyword used for them.

Some other improvements:

• Added a “Close Microsoft Edge” option in the “Settings and more” menu
• Improved dark theme support in Browser Task Manager
• You can now tab to address bar icons which indicate blocked site permissions
• Apps now appear in the same order on the apps menu and the apps page
• Updated the keyboard focus rectangle so that it’s more clearly visible

Along with the new features, the team has been hard at work fixing bugs, here’s what’s fixed in this release:

• • Fixed an issue that was causing high CPU usage while the browser was idle.
  • Fixed an issue where extensions couldn’t alter video playback speed.
  • On the download page, individual download cards no longer change height as you tab through them.
  • Removed the “Unknown” option from the language dropdown menu in the translator
  • Fixed an issue where encrypted video only appears as a black screen.
  • Fixed an issue where clicking on menu items sometimes doesn’t do anything.
  • Fixed a crash when enabling sync.
  • Fixed a crash during the first run experience.

• Fixed an issue where the Settings page crashes due to a corrupted user profile.
• Fixed a crash when opening Settings while in a guest browsing session

As a reminder, you can download and install either the Edge Insider Dev Channel (weekly updates) or Canary Channel (daily updates), or even run them both at the same time.