10
4
Is it possible to make Chrome load tab on demand like in Firefox? So that when I start Chrome and it loads the last session with plenty of tabs, only when I click on a tab will that tab load and not loading everything instantly like usual?
Chin
Posted 2012-12-04T04:32:05.137
Reputation: 6 937
3
Like many other users, I too would like to see the "Load Tab on Demand" feature in Chrome, same like Firefox has.
Seems like recently at least one custom solution (extention) appeared. It is called FooTab (at the moment of writing this answer it is in BETA).
It seems to be not very perfect though (again, at the moment of writing this answer). The author of this extension says on this project's official page (quote):
I've written it over a weekend while learning Chrome's API, so it might be a bit unpolished ;) I just couldn't believe it's not possible to do something about Chrome's startup tab loading mess.
Turns out it's possible, but results are pretty unstable depending on OS, Chrome version and computer's speed.
I didn't publish it on Web Store, because I don't have a developer account and don't want to pay entry fee to publish a free extension.
Also read here: FooTab makes Chrome to Load Tabs on demand on Startup
informatik01
Posted 2012-12-04T04:32:05.137
Reputation: 314
I think it doesn't work as it is expected. It blocks loading pages for ten secs, but including the activated tab and, what is worse, all the tabs starts loading after those ten seconds. Now I use Chrome version: 26.0.1410.64 m. – Bronek – 2013-04-12T09:52:14.753
@Bronek As I noted in the reply, the solution is not perfect at the moment. So what can I do? I'm not the author of this extension. Are you aware of the other solutions available at the moment? The Chronium developers are the ones who should make the built-in solution available, like in Firefox, the demand from the users is high, but they have their own vision... Sorry man – informatik01 – 2013-04-12T10:27:16.513
1Hey man, my comment is not a negative rating of your post or something. It is only discussion about the extension. Maybe somebody else has the same problem and has the solution, or maybe I'm doing something wrong. It is good you put post about it and tried to help. – Bronek – 2013-04-12T15:09:00.777
@Bronek I know it was not negative )) It's OK with me, brother! – informatik01 – 2013-04-12T16:55:09.877
What has your research on the subject shown? Each tab is its own process, this means, you really wouldn't get much benefit from doing this even if it was possible. – Ramhound – 2012-12-04T04:52:04.173
Not possible, probably won't be added as well according to the devs. Also, there are many threads asking for this in the Chrome Forum and no-one seems to have come up with a solution/extension yet.
– Karan – 2012-12-04T22:48:56.867@Karan Now it is already possible, although by using extension. See my answer for the details. – informatik01 – 2013-04-04T09:57:45.180
1@informatik01: Good to see there has been some progress on this front. – Karan – 2013-04-04T11:30:20.853
3
@Ramhound As for the benefits, they are the same as for the Firefox. The most obvious one is performance when starting the browser with the previous session containing lots of tabs. In the link given by Karan there is the related dicussion pointing out the benefits: Intelligent lazy loading of tabs when Chrome launches with lots of tabs. It's strange that this option is not built-in in Chrome. Although, if I'm not mistaken, for the Android platform Chrome has this feature.
– informatik01 – 2013-04-04T12:40:57.370@informatik01 - Chrome already handles inactive tabs by giving their process lower priority. – Ramhound – 2013-04-04T13:03:21.993
2
@Ramhound It's nice, but it is still not enough. For instance read this post. Otherwise there weren't be so many people willing for this feature.
– informatik01 – 2013-04-04T13:05:27.980