Google now offers some iOS users data compression in Chrome
Google has begun rolling out its Chrome data-compression feature to iOS users, reports TechCrunch. As the site notes, the feature is essentially a Google proxy that routes web requests through Google's servers. Once there, Google's PageSpeed libraries compress and optimize the content. Google says the feature has been shown to reduce data usage by 50 percent and speed up page load times on mobile networks.
Not everyone who is using Chrome on iOS will be able to take advantage of these data-compression features just yet. Google is slowly rolling out the feature by inviting select users to join the "limited preview." If you are one of the selected, you'll see a pop-up window in Chrome telling you that you are invited and asking if you want to "save bandwidth and browse more securely." If you tap "Enable," you're taken to a setting page where you can toggle "reduce Data Usage" on or off. Beware, however, that if you get this message and decline it, there doesn't seem to be a way to bring it back up.
TechCrunch says Google has opted for this staged rollout on iOS because it can't properly widely test features like this via a beta on iOS like it can on Android. Chrome for iOS is a free download.
