Google’s Chrome browser is, unfortunately, infamous for absorbing system resources and, on laptops, killing the battery pretty quickly. Google, however, is working to change that reputation. According to reports, a new feature in development will offer considerable improvements in Google Chrome’s battery usage.
TheWindowsClub Google recently obtained white papers detailing a new feature in development. Starting with Chrome 86, Google will apparently deliver a new banner in Chrome that will limit the activation of the JavaScript timer on background pages. Apparently, Google would limit that to just 1 per minute, just like Apple’s Safari browser does.
It seems like a small tweak, but it has big implications for the battery life used by Google Chrome. In one test, a laptop that was presumably a Macbook downloaded in 6.4 hours while browsing Chrome. That same laptop was downloaded in 9.3 hours using Safari. After enabling this new feature that limits JavaScript activation, it was discovered that the laptop would last 8.2 hours, almost 2 hours longer than Chrome in its current state.
In that previous test, Google had a single blank tab open in the foreground with 36 open tabs in the background. In another test, the results seen below, Google was playing a YouTube video in full screen with a handful of background tabs behind it. The results there were less impressive, but still added a bit of runtime to the device. Auto brightness and power saving settings were also disabled to eliminate variables in the process.
However, it is important to take this with a little salt in the numbers: we are not entirely sure of the track record we have here. Still, if true, this could mean great things for Google Chrome on laptops. Right now, Microsoft Edge and Safari have legitimate battery savings that make switching from Chrome on your mobile machine worthwhile. However, this setting could change that conversation for many people.
Apparently Chrome Enterprise users could unsubscribe from this feature once it becomes the default behavior, but that would only last for a year.
Meanwhile, the flag that activates this function is already active in Google Chrome v86, which has been extended to the Canary Islands track.
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