Audiophiles rejoice, Chrome will be getting official support for lossless audio format FLAC audio playback when version 56 hits your device.
Free Lossless Audio Codec, or FLAC, is a lossless audio format that plays back essentially as it was recorded. It’s a larger file size than the more popular MP3 codec, however the lossless format makes for a richer audio experience.
The addition of FLAC support in Chrome has gained popular support in the Chrome bug tracker, with work beginning in September last year. FLAC support is currently live in the Beta channel of Chrome, where you can play back FLAC files in a browser window. That browser window shows a play/pause button as well as scrubber and volume controls.
FLAC support is set to be ready to hit the Chrome stable channel in just a couple of weeks, but if you like to live a little dangerously you can try it out now by using Chrome Beta. Once it’s in the stable channel though, you’ll be able to play FLAC audio files in your browser natively without requiring additional apps such as VLC to play them.
