has updated its Chrome browser for Android devices with new tools to help reduce data usage, download pages for offline use, and discover more personalized content.
To start, Data Saver has expanded to video. The Data Saver tool was built into Chrome earlier this year, but until today it only targeted text and images; now, it also compresses video to reduce data over cellular networks. Google says its compression technology allows Android users to save up to 67% on data consumption when viewing MP4 format videos through Chrome.
Data Saver can sense slow or limited connections, and will automatically optimize HTTP web sites down to their essentials for faster loading. The new download feature is meant to help people save web sites and other online content for later.
A button added to the browser makes it simpler to download web pages, music, pictures, or video. Downloads that fail due to network interruptions will automatically resume once connectivity is restored.
Further, a new section in Chrome houses users’ downloaded content so it can be retrieved quickly. (Downloads will first be available in Chrome beta.) Last, Chrome will begin to recommend web sites when people open new tabs in Chrome.
Google says it will recommend fresh content, the latest news, as well as help people find their saved pages, images, and video. The more people use Chrome, the more personalized the recommendations will be. Google Chrome is free to download from the Google Play Store.
