Google’s Chrome browser was released for Android back in 2012 and it has been the default browser for that platform since Android 4.4 KitKat. There’s even a Beta version of Chrome for Android, for those who would like to try some of the newest features, although there might be a few bugs or minor issues occasionally. Besides a friendly interface with gesture support and a persistent search bar with voice support, Chrome for Android offers many more benefits such as synchronization with the desktop version, saving bookmarks and share the history across platforms, plus, there’s a Data Saver option which reduces mobile data usage. This last feature is getting better in a near future.
When Data Saver is enabled, Google will reduce the amount of downloaded data from their servers. The compressed amount of data will depend on the site and the kind of content. Currently, this feature promised to save up to 50% of mobile data usage, but Google will keep optimizing it and it will be able to save up to 70% of data. This is designed to work on slow connections, as this kind of connections can end up consuming more data. With the upgraded Data Saver feature, Chrome will detect whenever a user is on a slow connection and no images will be loaded from a website, but after the page has loaded, users might choose to load all the images from a bar at the bottom or just tap the individual color blocks that represent an image to load a few, consequently, pages will load faster.
While there’s no specific date as to when to expect this new feature, Google communicated that users from India and Indonesia will be the first ones to benefit from it, and additional countries will get it in the coming months. There’s no word if iOS users will get the upgraded Data Saver feature, but those on Android just need to enable it on the Advanced section of the Settings menu of the Chrome browser. Additionally, with this feature activated, users will also get Safe Browser, protecting them against malware and phishing attacks.