Despite the fact that I have repeatedly tried to abandon Google Chrome, not a day goes by that I do not launch it again. Yes, my main browser is still Safari, but since I also use Chrome from time to time, I had to somehow refine it. Now we are not talking about the external design at all, although I also changed the theme to the one that is most pleasing to my eye, we are talking about a functional upgrade, thanks to which Chrome literally sparkled with new colors, at certain points becoming almost irreplaceable tools. I explain what and how I did it.
Google Chrome might be better and I figured out how to achieve this
How to speed up downloads in Chrome
Historically, for most Chrome users, there are no extensions other than ad blockers. Therefore, the first and last time they visit the Google Chrome Store only once – when they install the browser to download an extension for blocking ads. However, there are quite a few interesting and useful solutions that will make Chrome really better. For example, to increase the speed of its work.
This is probably the best Chrome extension you could think of.
One of these extensions is FasterChrome (download). It activates web page preloading technology, thanks to which all sites that you open will start loading almost instantly. The site will start loading the moment you move the mouse cursor over the link that leads to it. To avoid false positives and ubiquitous loading of all sites on which the cursor is running, the developers have provided a minimum time for activating preloading equal to 65 milliseconds.
It turns out to be enough to exclude accidental loading when scrolling and at the same time load the content of the site with targeted cursor hovering. At first glance, all this seems a little strange, but my personal experience has shown that thanks to FasterChrome, pages in the browser really load faster, you just need to click on the link. The best results are seen when using light sites that open already fully loaded.
Slows down Chrome. What to do
Another secret that will make Chrome a little faster is hidden in the settings of the browser itself. I admit that you have heard about it before, but this does not make it less effective and useful to use. We are talking, of course, about hardware acceleration in Chrome. This is a mechanism that allows the browser to use the processing power of not only the processor, but also the graphics accelerator, thereby increasing the speed of command processing and reducing the load on the computer.
- Launch Chrome and go to 'Settings' – 'Additional Settings';
- Scroll down the list of available options to the bottom to 'Hardware Acceleration';
Turn on hardware acceleration to make Chrome run faster
- Move the activation toggle switch to the active position and use.
Hardware acceleration is quite effective when it comes to not the most powerful machines. It is clear that on Mac Pro the browser will not have any problems, no matter what it does and no matter how many pages are running in the background. But on low-performance devices like netbooks, old desktops Windows, this is a really irreplaceable tool. Moreover, even on my MacBook Air with Intel Core i5 and 8 GB of RAM, the performance gain is real.
How to prevent sites from running in the background
Chrome is not the most economical browser, so it is very important to ensure that it does not overload the system and, if possible, stop working at the same time as you. Nevertheless, some sites tend to run in the background and not only perform certain manipulations, but also, which is rather unpleasant, consume battery resources. This is especially true if you are using a laptop autonomously and you do not have the opportunity to connect to the power supply right away. Therefore, it is important to independently fight this phenomenon.
- To disable background activity of sites, go to 'Settings';
- In the 'Privacy and Security' section, open 'Site Settings';
Are the websites running in the background? Don't pull and turn it off
- Go to the Background Sync tab and prevent recently closed sites from sending and receiving data.
If necessary, here you can also add exclusion sites that you trust and which will be able to synchronize with your computer in the background, and, therefore, perform the necessary manipulations. True, remember that all this has a very negative effect on the battery life of the laptop, and therefore you should use this add-on very carefully.
How to block notifications from sites
I think I won't be mistaken if I assume that you hate the notifications that sites send. I don't like them either, so I just took and blocked them. You can do the same.
- In order to block notifications, open 'Settings';
Block notifications in Chrome to get rid of intrusive notifications
- Go to the 'Privacy and Security' section, and from there to 'Site Settings';
- Find the 'Notifications' tab, open it and prevent sites from requesting permission to send notifications.
As in the previous case, you can also specify a list of exclusion sites that will still be able to send you notifications even after being blocked. This should only be done if you are really interested in pop-up notifications, but since they will also work in the background, if I were you, I would give it up so as not to waste your battery once again, and not to jump a little from incoming notification sound. You know, I have enough of them on my smartphone.
How to send a link from a smartphone to a computer
Unlike all other ways to improve your Chrome experience, sharing links between your devices is available in your default browser. Another thing is that not everyone knows about its existence, although it is very, very useful in situations when you need to quickly switch from smartphone to desktop and back.
- To send a link from Android – a smartphone to a computer, open Google Chrome and click the 'Share' button;
- Select the 'Send to Your Devices' option and select the desired device with Chrome;
- To send a link from a computer to a smartphone, select the entire link;
You can send a link from a smartphone to a computer, and vice versa
- An icon of a computer with a superimposed smartphone will appear in the address bar – click it and select the device to which you want to send the link.
Perhaps for some of you, these tips will seem too mundane and obvious. However, in my use case, they make Chrome not only better, but, in fact, turn it from a far from being the most perfect browser into a great tool for work. I wish he would also consume less energy and not spin like a mad cooler of my MacBook Air.