Google updated its Chrome browser to automatically pause unnecessary Flash animation contents on webpages, in an effort to save battery for laptop users.
Adobe Flash allows web pages to display rich content—but sometimes that can put a squeeze on your laptop’s battery.
“When you’re on a webpage that runs Flash, we’ll intelligently pause content (like Flash animations) that aren’t central to the webpage, while keeping central content (like a video) playing without interruption. If we accidentally pause something you were interested in, you can just click it to resume playback. This update significantly reduces power consumption, allowing you to surf the web longer before having to hunt for a power outlet,” Google said in its blogpost.
According to Techcrunch, “Google argues that this update will “significantly reduces power consumption.” It will also stop annoying auto-playing videos from starting in the background and startling me. In my (brief) tests, the feature worked as advertised and happily blocked a number of Flash ads on the CNN and New York Times article pages from running in the background, for example. Given that a lot of this Flash content comes in the form of ads, though, this is definitely an interesting decision on Google’s part.”
Pcworld said, “It’s also potentially bad news for online advertisers who rely on Flash ads. Because that content isn’t central to enjoying a webpage, there’s a chance it will get stopped while a user is browsing rather than continue to run. That’s why Google’s AdWords service allows advertisers to convert new and existing flash campaigns into HTML5, so people will still see the same ads. The company also offers tools for building HTML5 ads, and will soon allow advertisers to upload their own HTML5 campaigns as well.”
This feature will be enabled by default on Chrome’s latest desktop Beta channel and will be rolling out soon to everyone else on Chrome desktop. If you need to manually enable it, just head to Chrome’s content settings and select “Detect and run important plugin content.”
