Dev channel update to 78.0.249.1 is live

Hello insiders, we have a lot to share today!  In addition to releasing build 78.0.249.1 to the Microsoft Edge Dev Channel, we’re also very excited to announce that as of yesterday, we’re making the Beta channel available to download from https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com!  The Beta Channel will see major updates every 6 weeks with periodic minor updates for bug fixes and security.  We intend for it to be our most stable insider channel, so it will have a lower version than the Dev and Canary channels and lack some of the features that those channels have.  To learn more, you can read our blog post here:  https://blogs.windows.com/blog/2019/08/20/introducing-microsoft-edge-beta-be-one-of-the-first-to-try-it-now. 

To mark the occasion, we’re also proud to announce the availability of some long-awaited features.  First, Tracking Prevention is fully available in the Canary and Dev Channels!  For those who need a refresher, you can read our initial blog post announcing the feature here:  https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2019/06/27/tracking-prevention-microsoft-edge-preview. 

Next, form fill and password syncing is fully available in the Canary and Dev Channels!  Those of you who are already signed into the browser with your Microsoft account should see the switches for both Passwords as well as Addresses, phone numbers, and more enabled on edge://settings/syncSetup.  And if you’ve got Microsoft Edge installed on your mobile device, form and password syncing will be coming there as well. 

EDIT:  As of today, sign in and syncing is available for work and school accounts in all three channels!  Like syncing for personal accounts, there are certain types of items like history that aren't available to sync just yet but will be coming in the future.  To learn more, you can read our blog post here:  https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2019/08/21/sign-in-sync-work-school-accounts-aad-websso.  

Finally, we’re beginning to roll out Collections!  For right now, Collections is only available in the Canary Channel.  You can read our blog post here for information about how to try it out:  https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2019/08/20/collections-now-available-microsoft-edge-preview. 

Some other new features this week:

• Added a warning message when giving websites permission to access a device’s location if Windows 10’s global location permission is disabled.
• Added support for exiting full screen mode using the ESC key on Mac.
• Added the ability for websites to detect when they’re running on Windows in S mode.

Stability fixes:

• Fixed a crash during the first run experience.
• Fixed an issue where navigating to a new site in an IE mode tab sometimes crashes the browser.
• Fixed an issue where IE mode tabs crashed when opening certain URLs.
• Fixed an issue where using IE mode in InPrivate sometimes crashes the browser.
• Fixed an issue where an IE mode tab that’s frozen can sometimes freeze the entire browser.
• Fixed an issue where searching for apps on edge://apps sometimes causes the page to crash.
• Fixed an issue where some websites installed as apps won’t load on Mac.
• Fixed a crash when using media casting.

Behavior fixes:

• Fixed an issue where searching in the address bar sometimes uses Bing despite a different search provider being selected.
• Fixed an issue where searches from the address bar sometimes bring back results from the wrong locale.
• Fixed an issue where right clicking on some browser UI is instead treated as a left click.
• Fixed an issue where the tooltip for the Stop button had a placeholder string in it ($1).
• Fixed an issue where browser syncing sometimes gets stuck in the “Initialization” state.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where the theme selection dropdown in Settings didn’t work.
• Changed the keyboard combination to open the More menu (…) on Mac.
• Fixed an issue where screenshots weren’t able to be sent alongside feedback.
• Fixed an issue where uninstalling websites that were installed as apps from the Start Menu doesn’t remove them from the edge://apps page.
• Fixed an issue where opening PDF files using Application Guard sometimes fails.
• Fixed an issue where IE mode tabs would sometimes prevent the window they’re in from being closed.
• Fixed an issue where IE mode tabs sometimes don’t have their content sized properly when the tab first loads.
• Fixed an issue where using Read Aloud sometimes causes webpage content to move unexpectedly.
• Fixed an issue where the link to manage favorites opens in the current tab instead of a new one.
• Changed management policies to apply to all installed channels on Mac instead of targeting individual channels.

As always, we appreciate all the feedback you give us, and we hope you try out the Beta Channel and tell us what you think!