Chromium Blog: August 2015

Scheduling timers to improve input responsiveness

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

The latest version of Chrome scrolling a timer heavy site with no optimizations (left) and delayed timer execution (right).

Scheduling timers intelligently is just one use of the scheduler’s infrastructure. To keep improving, Chrome will continue integrating the scheduler with more rendering engine tasks. Using cycles wisely is one way to keep the web fast for everyone.

Posted by Alex Clarke, Software Engineer and Timer Tamer

A good frame rate is important to maintain a fast browsing experience. A few months ago, Chrome added a scheduler, a new under-the-hood feature that places tasks in the idle time between rendering frames to help hit 60 frames per second. Chrome’s frame rate can be reduced by Javascript timers executing at the wrong time, making them a natural next candidate to optimize with the scheduler. The most recent version of Chrome beta reschedules Javascript timers to create a smoother experience when the user is interacting with a page.

Javascript timers enable web developers to write code that checks in on a page periodically with APIs like setTimeout. Advanced developers can use setTimeout to schedule their code at opportune times, but they often don't have enough information to schedule it optimally. A timer’s function is placed into the main execution queue, meaning that if the function is run at the wrong time, it could block time-critical work that shares the queue, like input or rendering. Chrome has signals that important work is incoming, but before M45 they were ignored for timers.

When the user taps the page, they often interact with it again immediately or Chrome needs to re-render part of the screen. The scheduler now delays impending expensive timers after a tap in anticipation of these tasks, allowing many web pages to be scheduled more efficiently. In practice, this can result in up to a 50% input latency improvement on websites that use timers heavily.

The latest version of Chrome scrolling a timer heavy site with no optimizations (left) and delayed timer execution (right).
Scheduling timers intelligently is just one use of the scheduler’s infrastructure. To keep improving, Chrome will continue integrating the scheduler with more rendering engine tasks. Using cycles wisely is one way to keep the web fast for everyone.
Posted by Alex Clarke, Software Engineer and Timer Tamer

Protecting users from deceptive inline installation

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Inline installation was introduced in 2011 as a way for users to seamlessly install extensions from developers’ websites. Unfortunately, this mechanism has been abused by deceptive sites and ads that trick users into installing unwanted extensions.

This ad appears to be a software update but actually links to an inline installation site for a Chrome extension.

To help address this problem, on September 3 we’ll begin disabling inline installation for extensions that employ these deceptive tactics. For these extensions, inline installation attempts will be redirected to the extension’s product details page in the Chrome Web Store, allowing the user to make an informed decision about whether to install.

Although less than 0.2% of all extensions will be affected by this change, it’s an important step to maintain a healthy extension ecosystem for users and the vast majority of extension developers who don’t use deceptive tactics. If you have any questions regarding this change, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Posted by Andrew Kim and Ben Ackerman, Chrome Policy and Anti-Abuse Team

Unwanted and deceptively installed extensions are a leading cause of user complaints, and over the last few years we’ve taken several steps to address the problem. Today we’re taking another step in our ongoing effort to protect Chrome users: disabling inline installation for extensions linked to deceptive sites and ads.
Inline installation was introduced in 2011 as a way for users to seamlessly install extensions from developers’ websites. Unfortunately, this mechanism has been abused by deceptive sites and ads that trick users into installing unwanted extensions.

This ad appears to be a software update but actually links to an inline installation site for a Chrome extension.
To help address this problem, on September 3 we’ll begin disabling inline installation for extensions that employ these deceptive tactics. For these extensions, inline installation attempts will be redirected to the extension’s product details page in the Chrome Web Store, allowing the user to make an informed decision about whether to install.
Although less than 0.2% of all extensions will be affected by this change, it’s an important step to maintain a healthy extension ecosystem for users and the vast majority of extension developers who don’t use deceptive tactics. If you have any questions regarding this change, please reach out to us at chromewebstore-policy@google.com. Posted by Andrew Kim and Ben Ackerman, Chrome Policy and Anti-Abuse Team

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Scheduling timers to improve input responsiveness

Protecting users from deceptive inline installation

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