Mobile data has gotten so cheap that Google is killing Lite Mode for Chrome

If you don’t remember how mobile data plans were like around 10 years ago, the gist of it is that it was expensive and often came with just a few GB of mobile data per month. As such, a number of apps introduced their own data saver modes, including the Google Chrome browser. These days though, “unlimited” mobile data plans have become pretty common—albeit usually with a FUP—and so Google revealed that they will be sunsetting the Chrome Lite Mode in an upcoming update.

In a post on the Google Chrome Help forums, Craig, the Chrome Support Manager, writes that Google will be turning off Lite Mode on Google Chrome for Android. It originally appeared as Chrome Data Saver back in 2014, and originally helped users use less mobile data when surfing the web, as well as load web pages faster. When Lite Mode is turned on, some of your web traffic would go through Google’s servers first, which simplifies it so that less data will be used to load your page. Users on Lite Mode would also have been able to see just how much data they saved compared to had they not use Lite Mode when surfing.

It was pretty useful when data plans offered pricey plans and slow speeds, but as Craig mentions, there’s been a decrease in cost of mobile data plans in recent years and so Lite Mode is no longer as relevant as before.

“In recent years we’ve seen a decrease in cost for mobile data in many countries, and we’ve shipped many improvements to Chrome to further minimize data usage and improve web page loading. Although Lite mode is going away, we remain committed to ensuring Chrome can deliver a fast webpage loading experience on mobile,” – Craig, Chrome Support Manager

The change will happen on the 29th of March, 2022 and coincides with the release of Chrome for Android M100, the 100th version of popular browser. While we can probably understand Google’s point of view, it’s still a shame to see a once useful very useful feature get removed like that.

As for those of you who still want to use a browser with a data saver mode, Opera does have the feature still if you need it. Alternatively, you can also look to swap to an affordable unlimited plan, such as the U Mobile U25 “unlimited” plan for RM25/month, Celcom Xpax “unlimited” plan for RM35/month and the Hotlink “unlimited” plan for RM35/month. They all offer 3Mbps mobile internet speeds, and you’ll also want to take note of the FUP that comes with each plan.