14 DAY TRIAL // Google is working non-stop on optimizing the performance of Google Chrome, and starting with version 85, the browser comes with a new feature called occlusion and specifically supposed to reduce resource usage and make the app feel snappier overall.
In a post discussing the introduction of occlusion, Google now provides us with a closer look at the benefits of occlusion in Google Chrome, explaining that the browser can now load no less than 25 percent faster than the previous versions.
“Through experiments, we found that nearly 20% of Chrome windows are completely covered by other windows, i.e., occluded. If these occluded windows were treated like background tabs, our hypothesis was that we would see significant performance benefits,” Google explains.
“So, around three years ago, we started working on a project to track the occlusion state of each Chrome window in real time, and lower the priority of tabs in occluded windows. We called this project Native Window Occlusion, because we had to know about the location of native, non-Chrome windows on the user’s screen. (The location information is discarded immediately after it is used in the occlusion calculation.)”
Fewer crashes, reduced resource usage
Thanks to the introduction of occlusion, Google Chrome not only that loads faster, but it also reduces GPU memory usage by around 3.1 percent.
And according to Google, it has also managed to improve first input delay by 3 percent, while also reducing the likelihood of crashes related to the renderer by 4.5 percent.
Needless to say, Google’s investments in Google Chrome come just at the right time. Microsoft is making a big deal about Microsoft Edge and all the innovations that are bundled with it, so Google Chrome’s performance boost should give users another reason to stick with this browser for a little longer.