Chrome is a good browser, but if you’ve ever fired it up on your phone, and then looked at how much data you’ve burned through, you probably wish it was a little less of a data hog. Fortunately, Google has plans to put Chrome on a data diet come the next update.
Why? Google’s been testing a new compression algorithm called Brotli. It works like this: You ping a web page, and Google’s servers access it. Using Brotli, they squish it down to a smaller packet of data, using steps like reducing photo quality. Then they upload the compressed page to your phone, eating up less data and giving you a faster browsing experience.
Google’s had this in place for a while, but Brotli is a substantial upgrade, getting pages 26 percent smaller than its predecessor. Of course, you’ll still have to turn on compression to get the data savings, and there are some tradeoffs. Images won’t look as sharp, you might have some trouble logging into certain password protected pages, and location services on websites won’t be as accurate. But if you’re sick of seeing data overages on your bill every month, or you’re tired of your service being throttled, then Brotli will make your life a lot easier.
(Via The Verge)