While the internet is already widespread, not everyone has unlimited data.
This is where Google Chrome's Lite Mode can do its job. What it does, is helping users save data when browsing. The feature simplifies requested web pages to ensure that less data is downloaded to users' device. This not only helps minimize data usage but also allows pages to load faster.
Lite Mode was called Data Saver back in 2015 when it was introduced.
But less than a decade later, Google announced that it is discontinuing the feature following the release of Chrome 100.
According to Google on its help page, the feature is no longer necessary.
As years past, mobile data has become cheaper and cheaper. What's more, Google has also updated Chrome with lots of improvements that should minimize data usage.
Chrome has also improved significantly that it could load pages faster than back then.
Read: How Chrome And Firefox Reaching Version 100 Can Break Websites, Developers Said
Back in the days, the time when the world was transitioning from desktop to mobile, the smartphone industry started to flourish, and many are trying to make as much money as possible.
And also because things were less reliable during the transition, mobile data was exorbitantly expensive and slow in most parts of the world.
At the time when unlimited plans were also less common
This is why back in those days, data-saving features were quite popular.
With the feature. browser makers processed users' web request by downloading the pages themselves first, then compressed them server-side, and send the compressed results to the users in a bid to their size and improve loading times.
Among the first to provide such useful feature, was Opera Mini.
But Google thinks that those days are gone.
Mobile data prices have indeed became cheaper in many regions, especially when optic fiber connectivity has also become more commonplace globally.
In the world that is increasingly connected, more and more people consider the internet as a must, and something they cannot live without. This is why more of those people are willing to spend more and more money for connection, and less people are still relying on strict data.
However, the news may come as a disappointing for some people, especially those in emerging markets.
To those minority of people, they are still browsing the web with poor coverage, and in some cases, mobile data is still expensive to them.
For those people, and those who still wish to have data saving feature, should switch to a different browser to continue saving mobile data while browsing.
If everything goes as planned, Chrome 100 is set to begin rolling out on March 29, 2022.
It is worth noting that the feature will also no longer work on older versions of Chrome from the same day.