Chrome iOS update cuts crashes by 70%

According to Google product manager Abdel Karim Mardini, the biggest criticizm the team received about the iOS version of Chrome is “this app crashes a lot”. Even Google’s “Aw, Snap!” error page loads faster when the renderer does crash, he noted.

Version 48 of the Chrome browser was released today.

So yeah, today’s Chrome for iOS update is a biggie.

Thanks to Apple’s introduction of the WKWebView rendering engine beginning with the iOS 8 version of its mobile operating system, Google said it has been able to update its Chrome Web browser so it can perform far better on iPhones and iPads.

The new version uses the WKWebView engine, allowing for faster browsing, particularly in relation to JavaScript.

While Chrome 48 began rolling out on browsers last week, Google has announced some new features for it across the various platformsm it is on.

By using WKWebView’s out-of-process rendering, Google says that a single crashed web view will no longer bring down all of Chrome, thereby reducing the overall crash rate. Chrome says that the improvements will gradually be rolled out starting Wednesday.

The new feature will also allow users to see how much data they have saved and which websites are using the most data. The extension reduces a computer’s data needs, making spotty wifi signals easier to bare.

Google has tested Chrome directly against Safari in iOS with several benchmark tools (Octane, JetStream, and Kraken), finding that it’s right on par with Apple’s browser.

As for the changes on the Chrome OS, it got new download notifications, a nifty-looking Material Design Video Player and various security fixes here and there.