Google Chrome preparing a tweak that could save 2 hours of battery life

guest · Jul 6, 2020

Google Chrome preparing a tweak that could save 2 hours of battery life
July 6, 2020
https://9to5google.com/2020/07/06/google-chrome-battery-life-tweak-javascript/

Google’s Chrome browser is, unfortunately, infamous for sucking up system resources and, on laptops, killing the battery pretty quickly. Google, however, is working on changing that reputation. A new feature in development will reportedly deliver considerable improvements to Google Chrome’s battery usage.

TheWindowsClub recently obtained technical documents from Google which detail a new feature in development. Starting with Chrome 86, Google will apparently deliver a new flag in Chrome which will limit the JavaScript timer wakeups on background pages. Apparently, Google would limit that to just 1 per minute, just like Apple’s Safari browser does.
That seems like a small tweak, but it has big implications for battery life used by Google Chrome.
Click to expand...

In the meantime, the flag that powers this feature is already live in Google Chrome v86 which has rolled out to the Canary track.
Click to expand...

Google: Throttling Javascript Timers to Reduce Battery Usage in Background Tabs
Intensive JS Timer Throttling

Finally, local experiments demonstrate that reducing the wake up rate of these Javascript timers can significantly improve the battery life.
Click to expand...

Chrome Platform Status
Intensive throttling of Javascript timer wake ups

In a Window whose top Window has been hidden for 5 minutes, timers can run:
- aligned on 1-minute intervals, or,
- if the Window is same-origin with the top Window, > 1 minute after the last timer has run in any Window in the tree that is same-origin with the top Window.

In a page that has been backgrounded for less than 5 minutes, keep the existing policy of aligning wake ups from timers on 1-second intervals.

Local experiments demonstrate that this intervention extends battery life.
Click to expand...

flag (Google Chrome v86 required):
chrome://flags/#intensive-wake-up-throttling

Log in or Sign up

Google Chrome preparing a tweak that could save 2 hours of battery life

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

Google Chrome preparing a tweak that could save 2 hours of battery life

guest Guest

Useful Searches