Google Launches Memory, Energy Mode for Chrome

Inno Flores, Tech Times 20 February 2023, 10:02 pm

Several users complained about how Google Chrome has become a resource hog since its release, as it increasingly vacuums more of the users' memory and battery life through the years. Finally, Google resolved this by rolling out new features in a recent update.

Demonstrators Protest Against Google Campus

(Photo : Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 03: In this photo illustration the app of Google Chrome is displayed on a smartphone on March 3, 2018 in Berlin, Germany.

Launching Memory & Battery Saver

Google rolls out today the memory and energy saver modes for Chrome. Based on a report from Engadget, the company rolls out the features as part of Chrome 110 for Windows, Mac, and Chromebook desktops by default. The features were previously announced last December.

Chrome was designed originally for speed. However, Google noted in its blog post that "performance is more than just delivering a fast browsing experience for its users." Hence, the launch of the optimized Chrome for users' battery and system memory devices.

Memory Saving

The Memory Saving feature will optimize users' resource utilization as it prioritizes active tabs and other applications. Meaning inactive tabs will be snoozed and relinquished to the background but will remain visible in the tab.

Users can still revisit the inactive tabs by reloading them. To see how much RAM Memory Save has freed for other tasks, users can check through the Omnibox notification. This feature will only use up to 40% of the process for the browser, which is 10 GB less memory than before.

Energy Saving

Meanwhile, the Energy Saving feature might be similar to this. However, it works to decrease the battery consumption of users' Chrome on notebooks and Chromebooks. Users can toggle this feature as soon as their battery level drops below 20%.

A leaf icon will shop beside the Omnibox when the feature is active, with a lack of visual effects as it reduced video frame rates. Google also disables smooth scrolling and other website animations to achieve this feature.

While this feature will be by default today, users can still turn them off from the Performance section of the settings in Google Chrome. Both features will not show up on desktops if you still have not updated to Chrome 110.

However, Android Police reported that if you already updated but are not seeing the new toggles, you need to enable the following flags first by typing them into the Omnibox. Through this, you can already enable the features.

Also Read: Google Works to Move Chrome Browser to Native Android System Share Sheet

Last month, Chrome also revamped its privacy as it launched a new feature that allows users to unlock incognito tabs through biometrics authentication. These new layers of security will prevent hackers and online lurkers to access secret tabs unconsciously.

This feature was only launched as an experimental feature but eventually became available to iOS users in 2021, while Android just got this feature recently. Apple and Android users can utilize this feature by setting up their fingerprint sensors or face IDs on the website or application.