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Chrome's Lite Pages Speed Up HTTPS Webpages on Slow Connections (venturebeat.com)

Posted by msmash on from the speeding-things-up dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Frustrated by web pages that never seem to load properly? Well, Google hopes to make them a thing of the past. Today, the company announced that Chrome on Android's Data Saver, a feature that automatically improves page loading using "built-in optimizations" and dedicated servers -- speeding them up by a factor of two and reducing data usage by up to 90 percent -- now supports encrypted HTTPS webpages. Previously, it only worked with unencrypted HTTP content. The latest stable version of Chrome on Android indicates in the URL bar when a lightweight version of a web page -- a Lite page -- is being displayed. Tapping the indicator shows additional information and provides an option to load the original version of the page. Google says that Chrome will automatically disable Lite pages on a per-site basis when it detects that "users frequently opt to load the original page."

40 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The real cause: SHITTY JavaScript that pulls in half the world's code base just to render "Welcome to my shitty web page!"

    If you're "web developer" creating such abominations, you are a turdbrain dumbass and probably too incompetent to jerk off.

    1. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Perhaps browsers should have some of the common JavaScript libraries preinstalled like Jquery and Angular.
      Or have a way to limit how much of these libraries we need to download to get the page to work. A lot of site you have to download a meg of js code, just so the developer and shortcut a document.getElementById(object).innerHTML = "string" command.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Your subject line is bullshit, as your post points out. It's bad programmers. Why that's insightful is most likely due to JS haters and not logic. Don't for a second think any other web language can't be abused in the same way.

    3. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by s122604 · · Score: 1

      "shitty" jquery's basic implementation is actually very small...
      Leet frameworks like Angular, or React (with the right plugins), is where the bloat comes in

    4. Re: JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by skids · · Score: 1

      So you are recommending sites source their js from a site other than their own?

      I didn't do any dabbling into ECMAscript until recently. Glad I waited. Seems modern ECMAScript plus HTML5 makes most of the frameworks useless if you are developing something that doesn't have to run on some grandmother's iMac G5.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    5. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

      Oh come on! Don't sugar coat things and tell us how you REALLY feel!

    6. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      The subject line isn't bullshit. Javascript really is that garbage of a language. While yes, it is true that poor programmers can bollocks up anything, a poorly made language will amplify that behaviour while a good language will mitigate it.

      Javascript is so abysmal that it goes one step further and not only makes it trivial to write garbage code, it actually makes it difficult to write _good_ code. It's a god-forsaken clusterfuck that makes about as much sense as Ted Bundy running a rape crisis centre.

      If Javascript didn't suck so bad, why is there a ginormous ecosystem of products whose sole purpose is to bring about some level of sanity and control? Hell, there are literally entire languages out there (eg: TypeScript) that exist for no other reason than to provide a layer of stability to Javascript. Literally no other programming language has this problem. Not one. Not even Perl.

      Remember, Javascript was never designed or intended to reach the point it has. It was supposed to be a minor glue language, confined to minor DOM operations within the browser. Now people are using it to do every damn thing under the sun, including drive server code.

      I find myself missing the days when we accused Microsoft Office of being bloated. Now we have Electron-based apps that are so hideously inflated beyond all reasonable expectations that a single chat app can take GIGAbytes of memory!. The list of failings caused by the Javascript explosion is nearly endless.

    7. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by parkinglot777 · · Score: 1

      Your subject line is bullshit, as your post points out. It's bad programmers. Why that's insightful is most likely due to JS haters and not logic. Don't for a second think any other web language can't be abused in the same way.

      You are correct and incorrect about JavaScript. You are correct that the problem stems from programmers (or those who do scripting). But that is the point! You can hardly find someone who really knows JavaScript inside out nowadays (but rather JQuery or any other wrappers). Most of programmers simply use others' libraries because they don't want to reinvent the wheel (as a common concept). Besides, reusing others' libraries save a lot of implementation time. As a result, most people simply take an easy way out regardless initial page load time and resources.

      The language itself is a bit of a problem as well; however, to me, it is a good language to do certain tasks, but not the way websites are using nowadays.

    8. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by DeVilla · · Score: 1

      There is a good language hiding in Javascript, but there is a huge mess of bad there too. There is a reason that there is a book called "Javascript: The Good Parts". The saddest part being that there's still a chapter having to cover some of the "Bad Parts" because of the boundary cases where a "Bad Part" tramples on a "Good Part".

      One of Javascript's problems ,that it shares with PHP, was that it was never really designed to be much of what it has become. Several of the "Good Parts", like the MOP, was a hack that accidentally could be abused to do really cool things. It's kind of like unchained mode in a VGA adapter. (Although VGA was really engineered, they just didn't block out certain "don't cares" and wound up with some useful side effects.)

    9. Re:JavaScript is the bane of the entire universe! by DeVilla · · Score: 1

      I made the same mistake as you originally. But I had South Park on and realized it was an accent. He's saying "CITY".

  2. Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by luvirini · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean the default for chrome for android is that Google will read everything you browse?

    1. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

      No.

      They have a database of commonly accessed content that they have pre-compressed on their own servers, such as Javascript frameworks. When the browser notices it needs to load one, it instead loads from the Google server or uses a locally cached copy. This happens even if the site said "load my copy", which usually means that the browser should re-download it no matter what.

      Occasionally this breaks things because some sites modify their local copies, hence the need for the override.

      This does not require any data about your browsing habits to be sent to Google, except in cases where you opt-in to sending it when you click on the override. It is explicitly opt-in, turned off by default.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Telling a Google server that you want to load a common Javascript framework used on millions of web sites every now and then (after the first load it is cached locally) isn't exactly a massive information leak. It doesn't send the URL you are trying to access or anything like that. It only knows to even ask for that resource because it has a local SQL database of patterns to match.

      And remember that the data saver function is also off by default and entirely opt-in anyway.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by jpaine619 · · Score: 2, Informative

      While I mostly agree with you, you have made a small error in your logic. It's not your browser. It's a free browser that you downloaded from Google that has been coded to do what they want it to do.

      I despise Google (for most things) but there is an element of entitlement in you demanding that software, you paid nothing for, behave in a manner you dictate. If you had paid for the software, then you'd have an argument (of sorts). But, you haven't. You're placing demands on something you have vested no money in. There's an old saying "Beggars can't be choosers".

      Get a different browser.. One that conforms to your desire. How many stories, about Google siphoning up huge amounts of personal data and related information, do we have to have before you people ditch Chrome?

      You are not Google's customer. You are Google's PRODUCT and you are being sold as such. This isn't news. This has been going on for at least a decade.

    4. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      I think that there are no browsers out there that one can pay for, and have it not spy on you. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    5. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

      No.

      What else do you call it when information is being leaked from secure site to Google including internal resources loaded and page URLs?

      This does not require any data about your browsing habits to be sent to Google

      Not according to chromium blog:
      https://blog.chromium.org/2019...

      "When Chrome optimizes an HTTPS page, only the URL is shared with Google; other information â" cookies, login information, and personalized page content â" is not shared with Google. "

      Sharing URL is very much requiring data about browsing habits.

    6. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

      Telling a Google server that you want to load a common Javascript framework used on millions of web sites every now and then (after the first load it is cached locally) isn't exactly a massive information leak. It doesn't send the URL you are trying to access or anything like that.

      Where are you getting your information?

      The only place I could find that has any information about this feature is this:
      https://blog.chromium.org/2019...

      It says specifically "When Chrome optimizes an HTTPS page, only the URL is shared with Google; other information â" cookies, login information, and personalized page content â" is not shared with Google."

      What do you know that overrides this?

    7. Re:Uh, so by default Google reads everything? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      you paid nothing for

      It's a bit more complex than that, because Google wants me to use its browser. My opinion an desires therefore carry a bit of weight. Maybe a milligram or two.

      You are not Google's customer. You are Google's PRODUCT and you are being sold as such.

      Well, no, you are both. Google needs to serve you in order for you to see the advertising space it sells to other companies. It's similar to TV - you are their product for advertisers, but you are also their customer and they need to serve your interests. When they don't you leave, as we have seen with cord cutting and people cancelling their cable subscriptions.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. You want me to LET you MITM my connection?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    So you want me to report every page I visit to you, MITM them. And then, only then, can I opt out and reload the normal way? Fuck. NO!

    Data Saver is spyware. Chrome Lite is spyware. Fuck. NO.

    1. Re:You want me to LET you MITM my connection?! by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Don't they already MITM connections through their VPN?

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
  4. google walls off the internet by goombah99 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Holy cow this is the very thing we are afraid of. like Facebooks Internet basics initiative and all the links inside facebook that only work inside facebook. Already many web pages are no longer accessible on an iphone unless you install chrome. Now we get this version of the internet only available to websites that optimize their pages for big Goog.

    I de-installed chrome just like I quit facebook

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:google walls off the internet by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      You have paranoid fantasies about Google secretly and illegally watching your every move online, yet trust the Chrome uninstaller?

      Better dig a hole, throw your computer in it, bury it, then burn any clothes you have have worn at any time you were alive. Just in case.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:google walls off the internet by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      I was thinking like you, but he didn't say that he uninstalled it. He said that he de-installed it. I assume he chose that word carefully.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    3. Re:google walls off the internet by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I de-installed chrome just like I quit facebook

      Cool story. What other ill informed knee jerk reactions did you take?

      Now we get this version of the internet only available to websites that optimize their pages for big Goog.

      If you didn't uninstall Chrome maybe you could Google what this change actually does so you would realise why your comment sounds incredibly stupid.

  5. Another toll-booth in the making... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... if you want your content to make it to the device requesting it, please pay a toll to google, then proceed.

  6. Just like with "AMP" pages. by Moskit · · Score: 1

    The goal is not to make life easier for user, but for Google.

    1. Re:Just like with "AMP" pages. by reanjr · · Score: 1

      No, the goal here is the same goal Opera had when they added the feature a decade or so ago. It provides a marked improvement in page load time. Yes, it requires sending info through the provider. But it absolutely is a killer feature for shitty mobile connections. The Opera version - at least - would pre-render the page on the server, then generate a vastly simplified version of the page that is designed to render pretty much the same way. Because most web pages are utter shite filled with atrocious amounts of garbage, this has a significant impact in the amount of shit that gets passed through your tiny pipe.

    2. Re:Just like with "AMP" pages. by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Oh gods yes. Never trust *anything* Google does for your "benefit".

  7. Going down the Opera list of features... by reanjr · · Score: 1

    It seems lately like the Chrome team is just going through a list of features available in Opera in 1998.

  8. I only have a 25Mb/s connection by bobstreo · · Score: 1

    but I did notice that if you really want to speed up web page loading, a combination of uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger and NoScript can drastically reduce your load times. They will save you tons of bandwidth as well if you're facing cap issues.

    It is amazing how much faster browsing becomes.

    If you REALLY want to speed up your quick access to Internet web sites, elinks seems to be a good way to quickly extract text. You can also pipe pages to scripts...

  9. It's not the page by Bobrick · · Score: 1

    Well, it's not so much the page but all the goddamn ads that not only take more bandwidth than the freaking text article I'm trying to read, but move the page up around as they finally load... as I'm trying to read the goddamn article. Get off my goddamn lawn, ads!

    1. Re:It's not the page by green1 · · Score: 1

      The worst part about this initiative is that using Chrome on mobile, this "feature" bypasses all adblockers. (mobile adblockers use DNS and/or VPN to filter the pages, this bypasses both of those)

      So the "fast" way is actually slower...

    2. Re:It's not the page by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      Yep, the internet is becoming quite a commercial. Maybe you haven't tried out Firefox's adblockers. They work very well. Loading pages can be slow as hell, but they render without any ads, which is really nice.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  10. New flash: Browsers suffer self inflicted wonds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You're kidding right? Lite weight pages load faster? Here I thought loading megabytes of js, css, and other crap were zero cost operations.

    Disclaimer I do not work for Google, never will. Here's some free advice, walled gardens are not new nor is the concept of "optimised" content. That is, content written specifically for a platform, see AOL, webworkers, http manifests etc.

    What has changed is Google attacking every public standard they can with little after thought as to the implications outside THEIR environment. One blaring example in this case is their castrating parallel HTTP requests. I won't rehash everything here but I strongly suggest people read about a little thing called HTTP pipelining. You used to be able to configure things like how many parallel requests to make and over what number of sockets. Browsers removed those controlls enitrely.

    To understand why that matters, try viewing a slow page, locally. Then start removing parts of it... embeded fonts, custom css, etc. Browsers are very fast at rendering it's all the other shit companies like GOOGLE AND MOZILLA have bastardized HTML with.

    tl;DR Tech companies created the problem so you buy their solutions.

  11. Re:Hosts files speed you up 3 ways by green1 · · Score: 1

    This bypasses the hosts file by using a google resolver.

  12. Re:Screw Chrome - go FF or others... apk by green1 · · Score: 2

    Chrome also has a way to turn this off, just turn "Data Saver" off.

  13. It's what is called "Slashvertisement"? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

    I'm right?

  14. Correct title by rcharbon · · Score: 1

    "Google will block your content when it feels like it"

  15. HTTPS by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    will now get approved ads to you quicker.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  16. Innovation by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    Chrome now comes pre-loaded with all Google tracking JavaScripts!

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.