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| Google speeds up the Chrome release cycle every four weeks |
Google has apparently announced that it will push Chrome into a more frequent release schedule as it has announced that it will release a major future release that adds new features every four weeks.
The search giant said it is working to speed up the release of Chrome updates, so starting with version 94 in the third quarter of 2021, a new version of Chrome will be released every four weeks instead of every six weeks.
It should be noted that this is the first time in more than a decade that Google has expanded the browser version schedule.
Alex Mineer, Chrome Tech project manager, said: Since we have improved the testing and release process for Chrome and release of security updates every two weeks to shorten the patch interval, it is time to reduce the release cycle and add new features that are capable of faster rendering.
This move aims to make Google's browser compatible with Firefox, which has been updated monthly since the start of last year.
To meet the needs of corporate customers who may not want to see changes often, Google has added an advanced stabilization option.
When consumers see a new version of the browser each month, IT administrators can choose the Extended Stable option, which releases a major release every 8 weeks.
The advanced stability option is suitable for enterprise IT administrators who need more time to manage updates in their environment.
Security updates are released every two weeks via the extended stable release to fix important issues. However, these updates do not contain any new features or all of the security updates obtained through the 4-week option.
Google also plans to roll out several Chrome OS stable release options in the coming months and share details with Chrome OS administrators.
Google has updated the new release schedule document and also released the first release schedule update which will stay up to date with the posting of the new release schedule.
Since other popular browsers like Microsoft Edge and Brave also use Chromium, Brave is also planning to move to a four-week release cycle instead of the current three-week release cycle.