Chrome introduced its data saving feature many versions of the app ago, but if you’ve kept it enabled on your device(s), you must have noticed that it’s not exactly that efficient. It saves somewhere between 10 and 20% of your data, but that’s not going to make a big difference if you’re on a very slow network or a very limited plan. If you’re suffering from the former, you’ll be happy to know that Data Saver is going to get better.
The updated data saver mode can save up to 70% of your bandwidth by not loading a webpage’s images when you’re on a slow connection. When the page’s text finishes loading, a message at the bottom lets you load all images or you can tap on each one individually to reveal it. It seems similar to how the Play Store started loading screenshots on demand in version 5.9, but it affects the entire web instead of just app listings.
As someone who often has to wait several minutes for a single webpage to load because it’s a magazine-style layout full of unnecessary images linking to other pages I won’t open, I can’t wait to see this in effect.
Unfortunately for me, Indian and Indonesian users will be the lucky ones who get this updated feature first, followed by more countries in the future. It seems like it’ll be server-triggered, so all you need to do is enable Data Saver inside your Chrome app’s settings and just wait for it to show up.
- Source:
- Chrome Blog