Data Saver Mode on Chrome for Android can now save up to 70% data

Google has announced that it is updating the Data Saver Mode in Chrome for Android. Google claims that the update allows the browser to save upto 70% of data, when the Data Saver Mode is turned on. In its official blog, Tal Oppenheimer, Google’s Product Manager for Chrome, said on Google’s official blog, “Now, we're updating this mode to save even more data – up to 70 percent!” He said that Chrome would do this by removing most of the images from a page, when connection speed is slow. Once the main body of a page is loaded, the user can tap a button to show all images, or just individual images. He said this makes the web “faster and cheaper to access on slow connections”. India and Indonesia will be the first to receive this update, and would start rolling out to other countries in the coming months. It wasn’t mentioned when the feature would come on Chrome browser for iOS.

Last week, Opera announced that it was updating the Opera Max app for Android, and claimed that the update helped users save upto 50% of data when streaming music. As of now, the app helps save data only if music is streamed from services such as YouTube Music, Pandora, Slacker, Gaana, and Saavn. It uses a technology called Rocket Optimizer, which converts mp3- and mp4-based music stream to AAC+. The format offers similar music streaming quality, but at lower bitrates.

Manufacturers like Samsung have also tried to to include their own data saving features in their phones. The Samsung Galaxy J2 came with a feature called ‘Ultra Data Saving Mode’. The company claims that the feature would help reduce data usage by upto 50%, by compressing videos and images. The feature was also included in the Galaxy On5 and On7, which were launched in India last month.