Chrome memory usage may be going down with new update

Memes about how comically egregious Chrome memory usage can be may soon be a thing of the past. A new update to the popular browser is looking to address this particular trait of Chrome.

Early this March, Google Chrome version 89 was made available to users within the secure channel, and it may very well be on most devices by now. This new update is said to significantly decrease Chrome’s RAM usage, which will help save tons of memory on your device.

This is because of the browser’s increased use of its PartitionAlloc memory allocator. For now, users on Mac OS don’t have access to the same functionality, but it is only a matter of time before it matches up to the performance of Google Chrome on Windows computers.

Google’s PartitionAlloc is a memory allocator. It has been optimized to deliver efficient use of space, added security, and low allocation latency for your device. With PartitionAlloc, Chrome RAM usage will go down, and the performance of Google Chrome on your device will be better overall. (Read: Google Hangouts is being shut down)

Apart from the abovementioned developments, Chrome 89 also seems to have gotten a lot more intentional about handling unused memory. With its efficient handling of memory, you can save as much as 100MiB per tab.

Google Chrome has also been updated for Android devices. Theoretically speaking, developers only need one APK to accommodate any Android device. However, resources turn out to be limited on devices, so having packages that would fit each individual device’s specifications would make sense. To address this, Google has updated its Play Store to generate individual APK’s for a user’s device, which can be used by Chrome to utilize its new capabilities. With Google’s new updates, Chrome can now launch on Google devices “with a significantly reduced initial codebase” and just beef up on features later on depending on the user’s preferences.

Google Chrome memory usage will also be more manageable with the introduction of Freeze-Dried Tabs. Much like how fruits are freeze-dried to retain their nutrients, color, and shape while saving up space, Freeze-Dried tabs will offer users a lightweight version of their standard Chrome tab with all the functionalities but less startup time. Chrome will use Freeze-Dried Tabs for its initial display, which will help users get into their browser up to as much as 13% times faster.

High memory usage, is not a good thing, especially when causes user’s computers to start acting very slow. This was bad news for Chrome, as it tended to consume a lot of memory especially as the browser developed over time.

Over the years, Chrome developed a reputation for being a resource hog. It became known for how greedy it could be in terms of memory usage, compared to other popular browsers. Because of this, the team behind Google Chrome worked hard to bring Chrome’s memory usage down. This new update, along with the browser’s heavier reliance on its PartitionAlloc program, would certainly help them achieve their goal.

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