Does the new Google Chrome finally use less energy and RAM?

Google’s Chrome browser is used daily by more than 60% of people on the planet. Its Chromium engine is even deployed on other browsers like Microsoft Edge. It is fast, perfectly integrated into the Google ecosystem, but suffers from a major flaw: a tendency to monopolize the RAM of the system and to be energy-intensive. Regularly, Google tries to correct things with updates, but so far the effects have been limited.

To put an end to this concern and the reputation it generates, the Internet giant has just added two new modes to Chrome. memory saver, as its name suggests, reduces the occupation of RAM. According to Google, the gain would be 40% compared to before. The browser cheats by dumping the memory of unused open tabs. Tabs are reloaded as soon as you activate them.

Unload computer RAM

It is however possible to exclude the sites which one does not wish to see discharged from the memory for practical reasons and stability. The other mod, Battery Saver, manages energy consumption. This mode is only activated if the computer is running on its battery and it drops below 20% autonomy. In this case, Chrome limits background activity and visual effects on tabs (videos, animations…).

These two modules will be gradually distributed on the PC and Mac version in the coming weeks. It will be possible to disable these features. Google says all users will have access to it in the coming weeks and is starting to roll out the version today via an update. You can disable these modes in the settings.