A major problem that’s been weighing down on Google Chrome since the beginning of Android, is just how much this browser uses in terms of system resources. Although lately they’ve improved vastly as is shown in our recent benchmarks, there’s still a long road ahead. Luckily, it seems like version 55 (for now available for Devs) is going to be a huge improvement in terms of performance, especially on devices with low RAM.
In the official blog on JavaScript development, we take a deeper look into improvements of the virtual machines involved, especially in terms of resource consumption. In certain occasions, RAM usage is reduced by 50% when browsing. All this has a huge impact when trying to open several tabs at once, more so when they involve a lag when loading and viewing such as on social media, news sites, and Twitter or Reddit.
We’ve tested these features in order to prove if these tools are, in fact, as good as they seem, and the difference is palpable in mid-range devices with a drop of as much as 50MB comparing RAM usage in terms of services when running browsers. As in earlier occasions, we’ve used Simple System Monitor in order to analyze data in real time.
Even though it’s initial launch for Chrome 55 in its stable channel is planned for December 6th, you can now already use this version by installing the Developer version of this browser, which also coexists perfectly with the standard edition (currently at number 53).
Thank you very much for your good efforts