Android phones and Chrome users just got two seriously great upgrades

If you have one of the best Android phones, an Android tablet or a Chromebook, or you use the Chrome browser on your PC, Mac, iPhone or iPad, then Google has good news for you. It's made some serious improvements to the Chrome browser that will make your internet faster, your battery life longer and your hair glossier. Okay, maybe not that last one.

Writing in the official Google blog, group product manager Mark Chang explains that the new performance settings mean that the browser uses "up to 40% and 10GB less memory to keep your tabs running smoothly, and extends your battery when it’s running low."

How does Chrome make your internet faster?

If you're like us you probably browse the web with lots of tabs open in the background. The new Memory Saver feature frees up memory from all of those tabs without actually closing them, and that means the active tab gets a bigger share of your system's memory. More memory means faster rendering and better performance in web apps.

The second new feature kicks in (if you want it to) when your battery charge drops to 20%. When that happens, Energy Saver kicks in and starts to throttle things you don't really need, such as activity happening in the background and unnecessary visual effects such as animations and videos on websites. 

Both features will be available under the familiar three-dot menu icon, but they might not be there immediately: the features are rolling out not just to Chrome users on Android but to Windows, Mac and iOS users too, with Google promising that the rollout will be complete within the next few weeks.