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Faster Chrome? Google tests 'Never-Slow Mode' for speedier browsing

Google is trying out a feature for Chrome that aims to deliver a consistently quick browsing experience.
Written by Liam Tung, Contributing Writer

At some point in the future, Chrome may gain a new feature, dubbed 'Never-Slow Mode', which would trim heavy web pages to keep browsing fast. 

The prototype feature is referenced in a work-in-progress commit for the Chromium open-source project. With Never-Slow Mode enabled, it would "enforce per-interaction budgets designed to keep the main thread clean". 

The design document for Never-Slow Mode hasn't been made public. However, the feature's owner, Chrome developer Alex Russell, has provided a rough outline of how it would work to speed up web pages with large scripts. 

"Currently blocks large scripts, sets budgets for certain resource types (script, font, css, images), turns off document.write(), clobbers sync XHR, enables client-hints pervasively, and buffers resources without 'Content-Length' set," wrote Russell.

The feature, spotted by Chrome Story, would set budgets and limits for various resources in a page, including images, stylesheet, scripts, fonts, and long script tasks. Each assigned budget would be reset when the user clicks, taps or scrolls.  

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"Budgets are reset on interaction (click/tap/scroll). Long script tasks (> 200ms) pause all page execution until next interaction," wrote Russell.  

If the feature does join other experimental features hidden behind a flag in Chrome, the current description warns that enabling Never-Slow Mode could break content. That makes sense given that these slow pages rely on resources that Chrome could soon block.  

"Enables an experimental brow[s]ing mode that restricts resource loading and ru[n]time processing to deliver a consistently fast experience. WARNING: may silently break content, according to Chromium developers," reads the description

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