Chrome registers a global shortcut for Gemini popup window

Chrome 为 Gemini 弹窗注册了全局快捷键

I got pissed at Chrome the other day. This is not the first user-hostile thing Chrome did – off the top of my head, I remember the updater fiasco from some years ago, and the more recent auto-installation of a 4GB file – but as you’ll see, this one is squarely in my wheelhouse. 前几天我被 Chrome 气到了。这已经不是 Chrome 第一次做出这种对用户不友好的行为了——我随口就能想起几年前的更新程序闹剧，以及最近自动安装 4GB 文件的事——但正如你接下来会看到的，这次的事情正好触碰到了我的底线。

The transgression: Chrome took over a shortcut on my Mac – Ctrl+G – and it used it to throw me into Chrome’s version of Gemini that I have never used or was interested in using. Moreover, it decided it’s okay for Ctrl+G to put me there even if I pressed the shortcut outside of Chrome. I was never asked by Chrome if it’s okay to do so. 这次的越界行为是：Chrome 劫持了我 Mac 上的一个快捷键——Ctrl+G——并用它来强行弹出 Chrome 版的 Gemini，而我从未用过也根本没兴趣用它。更过分的是，它认为即便我在 Chrome 之外按下这个快捷键，也理应跳转到那里。Chrome 从未征求过我的同意。

The way I found it installed it was in a very unpleasant way: I tried to use Ctrl+G in my coding editor to jump to a specific line, and I got this instead: Stuff like that can make you feel like you lost your mind. I have no idea what this window is supposed to do, where did it come from, or even – initially – why it appeared. Note that it doesn’t even identify itself as either Chrome or Gemini, unless you read the scary caveat. It feels like the UI equivalent of breaking and entering. 我发现它被安装的过程非常糟糕：我尝试在代码编辑器中使用 Ctrl+G 跳转到特定行时，却弹出了这个窗口：这种事会让你觉得自己快疯了。我完全不知道这个窗口是干嘛的、从哪来的，甚至起初都不知道它为什么会出现。请注意，除非你读了那段令人不安的免责声明，否则它甚至没有标明自己是 Chrome 还是 Gemini。这感觉就像是 UI 界的“私闯民宅”。

Unsurprisingly, the pop-up doesn’t confess to stealing the shortcut, or allow you to toggle it off in any way: It is possible to undo that behavior, but one has to connect it to Chrome first, and then go deep into its settings – first by clicking on “AI innovations,” and then by clicking on “Gemini in Chrome” – to find it: 不出所料，这个弹窗并没有承认它窃取了快捷键，也没有提供任何关闭它的开关：虽然可以撤销这种行为，但你必须先连接到 Chrome，然后深入其设置菜单——先点击“AI innovations”（AI 创新），再点击“Gemini in Chrome”——才能找到它：

Let’s not beat around the bush: This is effectively malware behaviour. It’s bullshit. It’s cancer. It’s deeply disrespectful toward the user. It’s prioritizing hollow metrics at the expense of everything else. But I don’t want this blog to chase news of the day or feed the outrage machine, so let me try to turn my anger into something useful. 咱们开门见山地说：这本质上就是恶意软件的行为。简直是胡扯，是毒瘤。这是对用户极大的不尊重。它为了虚无缥缈的指标而牺牲了一切。但我不想让这个博客去追逐热点新闻或煽动情绪，所以让我试着把愤怒转化为一些有用的东西。

We can start here: There are some global keyboard shortcuts that are genuinely good. A video call mute shortcut, screenshotting, “next slide” if you’re presenting in Zoom. Everything related to computer operation – volume, brightness, media transport controls – needs to be available regardless of focus or context. (In my keyboard customization essay, I introduced my own global keyboard shortcuts, for example for scanning the next page.) 我们可以从这里开始：有些全局快捷键确实很有用。比如视频通话静音、截图，或者在 Zoom 演示时的“下一页”。所有与计算机操作相关的功能——音量、亮度、媒体控制——都需要在任何焦点或环境下都能使用。（在我的键盘自定义文章中，我介绍过我自己的全局快捷键，例如扫描下一页。）

But, an app installing a global keyboard shortcut without user consent is bad. This can never be anything other than opt-in. At the very least, Chrome should have shown me a clear UI that said “We’re thinking Ctrl+G would be fun for you to use. You okay with that?” and a button for me to press to confirm. (Note: Ctrl+G is the shortcut for Macs. As far as I can tell, on Windows it is Alt+G.) 但是，一个应用在未经用户同意的情况下安装全局快捷键是错误的。这必须是用户主动选择（opt-in）的。至少，Chrome 应该向我展示一个清晰的界面，写着“我们觉得 Ctrl+G 对你很有用，你同意吗？”并提供一个确认按钮。（注：Ctrl+G 是 Mac 上的快捷键。据我所知，在 Windows 上是 Alt+G。）

From people’s reactions, it seems this shortcut is auto-enabled for a subset of users – perhaps people who used Gemini before, or people on a plan that happens to include it. No matter how specific or small that group is, or how useful they might find the Ctrl+G pop-up, the issue remains: I have never consented to the app doing this. 从人们的反应来看，这个快捷键似乎是为部分用户自动启用的——可能是之前用过 Gemini 的人，或者是订阅了包含该功能套餐的用户。无论这个群体多么小众，或者他们觉得这个 Ctrl+G 弹窗多么有用，问题依然存在：我从未同意该应用这样做。

I also partly blame macOS for ceding its responsibilities here. Mac’s keyboard customization features are a mess, and Mac doesn’t have a modern command repository. It’s not just that apps can register global shortcuts as they want, without the user knowing. It’s also that there is no shared inventory of them; if an app “swallows” a shortcut but does nothing noticeable with it, it can be really hard to figure out why a shortcut seemingly just stops working. (Other apps that I remember having problems with “stealing” global shortcuts, and apps that a few readers posted are: 1Password, Notion, and Perplexity. I’d be curious if you have other examples!) 我也部分责怪 macOS 在这方面放弃了责任。Mac 的键盘自定义功能一团糟，而且没有现代化的命令库。不仅仅是应用可以在用户不知情的情况下随意注册全局快捷键，更糟糕的是，系统没有一个共享的快捷键清单；如果一个应用“吞掉”了一个快捷键却没有任何明显反应，你很难弄清楚为什么快捷键突然失效了。（我记得有类似“窃取”全局快捷键问题的其他应用，以及一些读者提到的应用包括：1Password、Notion 和 Perplexity。如果你有其他例子，我很感兴趣！）

In light of macOS’s deficiencies, as an app, if you offer any shortcut customization – especially if you allow global shortcuts – I think it’s important to have a page that lists all of them shortcuts in one place. This is not what Chrome does, as various shortcut options are hidden on various pages in settings. Even Zoom, which is not generally known for having a great user interface, does better here: 鉴于 macOS 的这些缺陷，作为一款应用，如果你提供任何快捷键自定义功能——尤其是允许全局快捷键时——我认为在一个页面中列出所有快捷键非常重要。Chrome 并没有这样做，它的各种快捷键选项隐藏在设置的不同页面中。即使是 UI 设计并不出众的 Zoom，在这方面也做得更好：

And, since we’re back to Chrome, what a fall from grace! When Chrome started in the late 2000s, it felt like a browser that had user’s interest in mind, and protected people from ill-behaving websites. Today, it’s the operating system that needs to protect us from Chrome. Also, don’t call a tab “AI innovations.” It’s tacky as hell. The market gets to decide what’s innovative and what is not. 最后，回到 Chrome，真是堕落了！当 Chrome 在 2000 年代末刚推出时，它感觉像是一个真正为用户着想、保护人们免受恶意网站侵害的浏览器。而今天，反倒是操作系统需要保护我们免受 Chrome 的侵害。另外，别把标签页叫作“AI innovations”。这太俗气了。什么是创新，市场说了算。