Google Chrome Update Can Drop Data Consumption By 70 Percent
More and more, people are accessing the Internet through their smartphones and tablets instead of their laptops and desktop computers. But opening mobile websites can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially when the user is on a slow Internet connection. Accessing the Internet through a web browser on a smartphone is a bandwidth-heavy task. It eats up a lot of data and can slow down the phone.
In January 2014, Google rolled out their Chrome app's Data Saver mode to help out users on low bandwidth connections. Now, Google has beefed up its data compression capabilities, announcing on Monday that it is updating the Data Saver mode on its Chrome app, allowing users to decrease their data consumption by as much as 70 percent.
The move comes after Opera released its latest Opera Mini for Android update, which has a data-saving feature that allows users to go on websites without exceeding their bundle limit.
According to Tal Oppenheimer, a Product Manager at Google, Data Saver mode works by "removing most images when loading a page on a slow connection." When Chrome detects that the user is on a weak connection, it will load webpages without images, letting the app load at faster speeds and with less data expenditure. After a page has been loaded, users can then choose to load all the images or to pick individual pictures that they want to view.
On its Support page for Data Saver, Google says that turning Data Saver on may prevent some internal websites, such as office intranet sites, from loading. It may also cause some images to look a little blurry and local settings to be ignored. When Data Saver is on, some websites may be unable to determine a user's location.
The Google Chrome Data Saver mode update will initially be available for Chrome users in Indonesia and India, before rolling out for additional countries in the coming months.
