"Lite mode," one of the oldest features of Chrome, will soon be killed. Originally known as "Data Saver," the feature has been part of Chrome for Android since 2014. But as mobile data has become cheaper and more easily accessible around the world, and together with Google's AMP initiative, Lite mode is no longer as useful as it used to be. And Google thinks it's safe to bid adieu to the feature without negatively impacting the browsing experience for mobile users.

Lite mode will be removed with the upcoming milestone Chrome 100 release on the stable channel. The change will affect the latest Chrome version as well as older builds.

"On March 29th, 2022, with the release of Chrome M100 to the stable channel, we'll turn off Lite mode, a Chrome feature for Android that we introduced back in 2014 as Chrome Data Saver to help people use less mobile data on their phones and load web pages faster," wrote Craig, Chrome Support Manager, in a recent post.

Lite mode is accessible from within Chrome's Settings page under the "Advanced" section. When it's turned on, Chrome uses Google servers to speed up page loading speed and save data. Pages that are heavy and slow to load are identified and sent through Google servers to "simplify" (read compress) them. Lite mode is only available on Android devices.

As Google's support page explains:

When you use Lite mode, some of your web traffic may go through Google servers before being downloaded to your device. If the page is loading slowly, Google servers may simplify it so that less data gets downloaded to your device.

Lite mode is already gone from Chrome Canary, with the Chrome Beta and Chrome stable to follow suit in the coming weeks.

Are you going to miss Chrome's Lite mode? Let us know in the comments below. 


Source: Google Chrome Help 

Via: 9to5Google