Chrome update makes browser faster and more energy efficient

Published on 13 januari 2021

The last Chrome update of the year is all about speeding up the browser. Especially when you often have a lot of tabs open, you should notice a difference after installing Chrome 87.

Open tabs can slow down the Chrome browser significantly. Google has been tinkering with the way Chrome handles websites that are open in the background for a while. The company discovered that JavaScript plays a major role in this. More than 40 percent of Chrome's processor consumption is due to this.

By limiting the way JavaScript is active in background tabs, the CPU is loaded up to five times less. An additional advantage is that this approach has a positive impact on the battery life of mobile devices. They would last over an hour longer after Chrome update 87.

Speed gain

Further optimization ensures that the browser starts up to 25 percent faster and loads websites up to 7 percent faster. Returning to a previous page is also smoother, because it is temporarily stored in the cache. The page in question does not have to reload completely.

To check if you're running the latest Chrome version, go to chrome: // settings / and then About Chrome, the bottom option. If a more recent version is available, it will now be downloaded automatically. Restart the browser for the update to take effect.