The Google Chrome browser is a real black hole for RAM and the Mountain View company is aware of it. The new version of the software, Chrome 107, will attempt to correct this problem with a simple technique: putting unused tabs to sleep.
If like us, you are the type to leave 250 tabs open at the same time on Google Chrome, you know that it is a real test for your RAM. The browser is reputed to be greedy, for good reason. Google is aware of this and will try to stem the problem with a new technique.
This is happening in Chrome 107, the next version of the browser. Redditor Leoparda64-2 spotted this feature in the options. To put it simply, it is possible put tabs to sleep when not in use.
Google Chrome wants to preserve your RAM
In the Performances menu, a new option is available: Memory Saver. It works very simply: tabs that you haven’t touched for a while will be paused. They will no longer consume resources and therefore have no impact on your RAM. As soon as you go back there, they will reactivate in the blink of an eye.
Also read – Chrome 107 will finally support the H.265 video format, but what does Firefox do?
All of this will be invisible to the user. The only visual indication will be a small clock next to the tab. This will notify you that it is indeed inactive. This is a technique that is already known and used (Huawei’s latest MateBook Pro X benefits from it) but which was not on Google Chrome.
It will be possible to deactivate this feature if you wish, or to grant exceptions. Many of us use Youtube music in the background and it would be a shame to leave this tab inactive. This option is above all intended for small configurations as well as for Chromebooks, which are very penalized by the gluttony of the browser. Also note the arrival of an energy saving mode which allows you to deactivate features on Chrome such as the refresh rate higher than 60 Hz, visual effects and animations on certain sites.
At the moment there is no release date for the new version of Chrome, but it should happen in the next few weeks or months.
