A Solution To Chrome’s RAM Addiction?
Memory Saver Puts Your Tabs On A Diet
Google promised us Energy Saver and Memory Saver modes back in December and are finally making good on that promise in Chrome 110. It is being rolled out simultaneously to Windows, Mac and Chromebooks so everyone but the penguins should be able to test it out soon, if you haven’t already updated. You can check under Settings to see if you have it ready to go, look at the top of the Performance section to ensure it is ready to go.
Google suggests that this setting tells Chrome to put the tabs you don’t currently have active into a sleep state to reduce their memory foot print, after losing focus for a short time. The tabs will still be there and will not look any different than before; click on one and it will be available and will immediately refresh. A quick look at Task Manager suggests that it does indeed put things to sleep, and tabs are coming back as expected for the most part, with a notification at the top which indicates the tab is active again. The online version of Slack doesn’t seem to like it; most sites have no problems.
The Energy Saver mode is a more extreme version for mobile use, which should extend your battery life while browsing. When enabled this feature pauses visual effects like smooth scrolling on animations and videos when your battery falls below a specified threshold, or whenever you are running on battery. You can chose which in the same section as Memory Saver, or disable it completely.
Here’s hoping it helps out those who number their tabs in the dozens!
Chrome's new Energy Saver and Memory Saver modes were first announced in December last year alongside the release of Chrome 108, and now as noted by Android Police, the two optimization utilities are starting to roll out globally onto Chrome 110 desktops for Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks.
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I still don’t like my tabs going to sleep. Particularly when I want to see update on the tab (names) of a new Twitter notification or Email, etc
Then you’ll love you can set certain sites to never go to sleep!
Bottom line is devices need more RAM today then ever before. Windows itself uses a lot more RAM then it used to. Anymore 8Gb RAM is the minimum for a Windows PC. If your only using 4Gb or god forbid less then 4GB your going to have issues with slowdowns. Chrome is by far a memory consumer, but Firefox and other Chromium browser are not exactly frugal either. Many users love to keep several tabs open, my wife is like that. Will have a dozen tabs open easily sometimes. Never had a issue with 16Gb RAM I specified when buying her a laptop. I am still surprised how many low end laptops only have 4GB of RAM and some of those are soldered and not able to upgrade.