Google’s Chrome browser has long been plagued by memory issues – especially when multiple tabs are open – but the world’s most popular browser received an upgrade today to optimize both device battery life and memory usage. With the latest version of Chrome on the desktop, Chrome Release Memory and Power-Saving Modes Features.
Chrome Release Memory and Power-Saving Modes Features
When these settings are used, Chrome will use up to 30% less memory and extend a device’s battery life when it runs low, according to Google.
“We will be rolling out both Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes globally for Windows, macOS and ChromeOS in the coming weeks,” Mark Chang, group product manager for Chrome, wrote in a company blog.
Once available, the new features will run natively until users manually turn them off or mark “important websites” to exempt them from memory saver mode.
Chrome’s memory saver mode can be manually turned off via the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of the browser page.You can find the Memory Savor control hidden under the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of a Chrome browser window.
Chrome’s excessive use of system memory has in the past resulted in limiting the amount of memory available for other programs running on a computer or other device. The problems even caused Chrome to have difficulty caching information for quick access, which defeats the purpose of using RAM in the first place.
We have been tuning Chrome for speed from the start. But performance is more than just a fast browsing experience,” Chang wrote.
Because Google sandboxes Chrome browser processes, a user who opens Chrome with the Google search box has two Chrome processes running, each using its own memory.
Add another tab and you get three,” Jerry Hildenbrand, a senior editor at AndroidCentral, wrote in a post last year. “Add up the 50 or more tabs you have open at the end of the night, and you have 51, each running semi-independently of the others and consuming system resources. And that’s just the beginning. Each extension starts another process. Chrome aggressively preloads web pages, making web browsing pleasant and brisk.”The problem causes Chrome to consume megabytes of memory.
Google claims the new memory-saving mode makes for a smoother browsing experience, even if you have “a number of tabs open….
“Memory Saver frees up memory from tabs that are not currently being used by a system, so active sites get memory resources first. “This is especially useful if you are running other intensive applications, such as editing family videos or playing games. Any inactive tabs will be reloaded when you need them,” Chang said.In addition, Chrome’s new power-saving mode is designed to conserve battery power by limiting background activity and visual effects for websites with animations and videos. Power saving mode is activated when a device’s battery level reaches 20% of capacity, Google said.