Last year Google introduced support for “back-forward cache” on
Android, which enables instantaneous page loading when users
navigate using backward or forward button. As per a new
document spotted by us, Google Chrome 92 update will also
enable default support for back-forward cache on desktop
platforms, such as Windows, Linux and macOS.
In Google Chrome, if you open and close a page, it’s
immediately unloaded to clear out memory. For nearly two years,
Google has been testing back-forward cache to load previously
open pages faster when users click on the backward or forward
button.
Once enabled, if you visit a previously visited page and use
backward/forward navigation, that page should be able to reopen
instantly, rather than reloading the resources again. This
feature attempts to make Google Chrome’s Back and Forward
buttons work almost instantly.
“Back-forward cache is a browser feature which improves the
user experience by keeping a page alive after the user
navigates away from it and reuses it for session history
navigation (browser back/forward buttons, history.back(), etc)
to make the navigation instant. The pages in the cache are
frozen and do not run any javascript,” Google noted
in a new document.
Google’s back/forward cache (bfcache) caches whole pages,
which allows the browser to instantly restore the full stage of
the page when the user navigates back, as shown in the above
GIF. It will also work when navigating forward to a previously
accessed page.
The feature will be enabled on desktop platforms over the
coming months. The company won’t be using the “Origin Trial”
method to test the back-forward cache. Instead, it will happen
gradually.
“We already shipped this feature for Android. We want to start
experimenting with back-forward cache on desktop environments,”
the company added.
Google is currently planning to start the “experimental
rollout” with Chrome 92 and expand the coverage over the coming
months. It’s not yet clear when the feature will be enabled for
everyone, but interested users can manually turn on the
“back-forward cache” from Chrome’s flags menu.
In addition to speed upgrade, Google is also believed to be
working on a
new Sharing Hub that will allow users to copy the URL of
the page, generate QR code, and cast the tab to another
connected device.
