Just a few days ago, we reported that mobile Chrome versions may start using remote servers in order to improve performance, and now it looks like this feature is available in the beta version of Chrome for Android. Enabling the experimental features is as simple as enabling a flag.
Before you try this, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got the latest version of Chrome Beta installed. Usually, you’ll get a message inside Chrome itself if there’s an update waiting for you; otherwise, just head to the Play Store and install the update directly from there.
Next, simply navigate to chrome://flags in your omnibar. The very first flag you’ll see is Enable Data Compression Proxy. Enable, and select the option at the bottom to relaunch Chrome. That’s it!
As the description states, this will reduce your data consumption, which is valuable if you’re not on an unlimited data plan, or if – like me – you are currently suffering on Sprint’s extremely slow 3G network. And since less data needs to travel to and from your device, load times should improve, too.
You can see how effective this flag is at lowering your data consumption by visiting chrome://net-internals and then selecting Bandwidth after browsing around the internet for a while. Personally, my data savings are in the 40% range, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. If you don’t already have it, you can grab Chrome Beta for Android below.
Download: Google Play
Be sure to check out our exclusive Google Chrome coverage for even more on the Chrome browser, Chrome OS, Chromebooks, and Chrome web apps!
What’s the difference between Beta and the regular Chrome I am currently running?
Chrome BETA has a lot of experimental features that do not translate over to the official Chrome app until they are completely stable and efficient enough for the average user. That being said Chrome BETA is a little unstable from time to time due to experimental features and the fact that a whole heap of developers are playing around with them, constantly improving the overall quality of the browser. (BETA is also the ancient Greek word for “test.”)
Beta gets updated almost every week with new features
… when I try to launch a website after enabling this, it says “Authentication Required
The server http://flywheel.ext.google.com:443 requires a username and password. The server says: SpdyProxy1362614357″
and asks for a user name and password…
Weird… disabled and re-enabled and it’s fine now.
the only change I seen , was adBlock being disabled. With adBlock, or enabling this plug-in, speed never changed for me.
Thank you for this gift of info, works great John