Google Chrome for Mac Gains New Memory Saver and Energy Saver Modes

[Mousse]

Is there a mode where you can turn off Google Analytics from running in the background while using Chrome?😅

I haven't used Chrome in forever since my machine only has 8GB of RAM.😟

 

[sw1tcher]

For people who do not need Google Chrome, better find yourself a much efficient and faster browser. Firefox, Safari, Waterfox?

Better yet, for a group of people who say they use Apple devices because they trust Apple to protect their privacy more than ______, why do you continue to use Google Chrome?

 

[Skyscraperfan]

Seriously, why do people still use Chrome? That browser simply ignores the privacy oft its users. There are other browsers with the same Chromium engine, but much better privacy.

 

[emulator]

I grab some popcorn every time there's a google thread cause I know the sheep come out with all their stupid comments. Never disappointed.

 

[Realityck]

For people who do not need Google Chrome, better find yourself a much efficient and faster browser. Firefox, Safari, Waterfox?

The Safari 16.2 version kitted with MacOS 13.2 RC runs speedometer2.0 on a M1 24" iMac at 358. Latest Firefox 107.0.1 at 251. How is Chrome using cloud caching fare comparably?

 

[sdf]

I love the Mozilla Firefox browser. Been a long-time user. It’s fast, secure, and private. It has never disappointed me.

I like Firefox, but…

I remember when their PR people complained that Apple's Software Update could install Safari on Windows if users failed to uncheck a checkbox, while not acknowledging that if you ran Firefox its default would be to take over the default browser role. They're both crimes against your users, but the latter is a much bigger crime towards your users: an installed bit of software can sit forever harmlessly on a novice's computer. Taking over default browser is a forever choice for novices.

It wasn't a big thing, but it forced me to look over some of their earlier decisions and pay more attention to their future decisions. And I came to the conclusion they were more interested in playing with standards than advancing the web. In the case of ambiguous standards, Mozilla would intentionally pick the stupidest possible way to implement something rather than the intended way in the interest of pointing out flaws in the standard rather than providing a good browsing experience.

Eventually I decided I wanted a browser not a political engine. I often have Firefox installed to check for compatibility, but it's the last browser I install.

Safari isn't available anymore on Windows, but I'm pretty sure Firefox will still take over a Mac or PC by default.

 

[BeefCake 15]

Does Brave update at the same time or is there a delay?

 

[WWPD]

No thanks, I'll stick to Netscape.

 

[telo123]

Contrary to popular belief, I like Chrome. This is a nice feature!
My school websites (now that I am faculty, I will use these websites every day until I leave the school) do not work correctly on Safari. They either don't load (even with tracking/extensions protection off) or refresh every couple of minutes because it's taking too "much memory" or "power." Office.com doesn't even work properly on Safari.

 

[comicalmoodydan]

For people who do not need Google Chrome, better find yourself a much efficient and faster browser. Firefox, Safari, Waterfox?

I use Edge as my default browser on my Macs and iPhone. It syncs great together on everything and it’s fast and uses way less memory. It’s still chrome based as well and pretty much supports everything it does including add ons, web apps etc… it’s fantastic browser!

 

[usmaak]

For me, it wasn't just the amount of memory it used but also the amount of CPU. On my old 2015 MBP, as soon as Chrome started, the fan would start racing. I don't even have it installed on my new one.

 

[evertjr]

Finally! I no longe need tab discarding extensions, its working great after the update, unused tabs automatically unload after a while and ram usage is significantly better on my Mac, much better than the garbage sleep tabs from MS Edge. As a web developer I need Chrome so this change is welcomed.

 

[Osxguy]

Googles main income is your data. Why would you use their browser on your apple devices. Firefox is better and won't mine your data. STOP USING GOOGLE PEOPLE.

 

[mashdots]

Why would you ever use Chrome and let yourself get data mined by Google?

I agree, however this will be nice for people who have to use Chrome (like in orgs that have deep google integration / use google workspaces).

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

It's a good thing they are improving their memory/battery management, since when they impose manifest v3 early next year, all chrome users are going to be dealing with a lot more ads and trackers that their formerly functional extensions used to block out.

EDIT: And that goes for Edge users, too.

 

[sir1963nz]

It’s sad but no browser vendor will ever implement this. They all want to trap you into their own password managers.

I use 1Password.

 

[AlixSPQR]

So is everyone seeing these toggles?..

No, perhaps not in default mode, but if you go to chrome:flags you can enable it. Then it will show up as per the screenshot, (or somewhere in the vicinity, since I have Swedish set as my language; Prestanda = Performance). There won't be anything there to set on desktop, of course.

 

[quaresma]

So Chrome will still be a battery hog until it gobbles it down to 20%? Gee thanks.

How about you educate yourself? You can change the settings to “Turn on when unplugged”

 

[coffeemilktea]

Sounds great, at least Chrome users will be able to get away with ordering 24 GB of memory on their new Macs instead of needing 32 🤭

 

[alexandr]

No, perhaps not in default mode, but if you go to chrome:flags you can enable it. Then it will show up as per the screenshot, (or somewhere in the vicinity, since I have Swedish set as my language; Prestanda = Performance). There won't be anything there to set on desktop, of course.

Thanks a lot, would have never found this. Unfortunately it's either "Turn on only when my battery is at 20% or lower" or "Turn on when my computer is unplugged", but it's something. Any clue where the ram setting would be?

 

[alexandr]

How about you educate yourself? You can change the settings to “Turn on when unplugged”

Yes, yes you can, but what if you wanted to use this while being plugged in?..

 

[MegaBlue]

Out of curiosity, people who use Google Chrome: why do you use it over Safari or Orion (if you’re all Apple) or Firefox (if you’re multiplatform)?

I haven’t used Chrome since 2018, personally.

 

[Choco Taco]

All this with no adverse effects on its ability to spy on you! Sign me up..... NOT!

It comes with Data Saver Mode. You know ... for them to save your data.

 

[telo123]

Out of curiosity, people who use Google Chrome: why do you use it over Safari or Orion (if you’re all Apple) or Firefox (if you’re multiplatform)?

I haven’t used Chrome since 2018, personally.

Out of habit, mostly. For most users, the privacy issue that people scream at the top of their lungs on this forum isn't given a second thought. Or, they frankly don't care enough about it. Safari is a good browser, but some websites weren't built for Safari. Education websites don't run nicely on WebKit. Yes, Chrome does use more battery, but most people bring their chargers with them anyways, so if they do run out of battery, it's easy enough to find an outlet. I like uBlock Origin, which isn't available on Safari. Now, the reason why people would instead use Chrome over Firefox is because of the first reason, it's out of pure habit and what people are used to. Firefox and Chrome, in my experience, use the same amount of battery. Firefox may have a slight edge that is barely noticeable. Most of the services I use are Google Services, so why not just the same browser that makes those services?

 

[MegaBlue]

Out of habit, mostly. For most users, the privacy issue that people scream to the top of their lungs on this forum isn't given a second thought. Or, they frankly don't care enough about it. Safari is a good browser, but some websites weren't built for Safari. Education websites don't run nicely on WebKit. Yes, Chrome does use more battery, but most people bring their chargers with them anyways, so if they do run out of battery, it's easy enough to find an outlet. I like uBlock Origin, which isn't available on Safari. Now, the reason why people would instead use Chrome over Firefox is because of the first reason, it's out of pure habit and what people are used to. Firefox and Chrome, in my experience, use the same amount of battery. Firefox may have a slight edge. Most of the services I use are Google Services, so why not just the same browser that makes those services?

That’s interesting that education related websites don’t work well under Safari. When I was in my undergrad, everything I had to access (be it online assignments, textbooks, or whatnot) ran great on even my iPad, but that was also years ago.

Honest to God, the two reasons I don’t use Chrome are because I think it’s kinda ugly/clunky and there’s no option to have adblockers on the iOS or Android app. The privacy thing has never bothered me (plus, it’s incredibly easy to make Chrome just as “private” as Firefox and Safari with a few extensions or just getting one of the many privacy focused forks of Chromium. That privacy argument was always a little weak to me).