Chrome for Android’s ‘Data Saver’ feature is being removed because it’s no longer necessary

As soon as Chrome 100 releases, Google will be sunsetting a feature on Android known as “Lite Mode”. This feature was rebranded and originally called “Data Saver” (Datally), but its functionality and goal remained the same – to help people browsing the web save on their mobile data and load web pages faster in the process.

Over on the Google Chrome Help forum, a community support manager pointed out that the company would be turning it off on March 29, 2022. First introduced in 2014, it’s now been around for nine years.

You may be asking yourself then (or not if you’re accustomed to Google’s frequency with deprecating products and services) “Why is Lite mode going away now, of all times?” Well, that’s because, in recent years, there’s been a drastic decrease in the cost of mobile data in many countries, and Google has shipped many improvements with Chrome to further minimize data usage and improve page loading speeds, so ultimately, the mode is basically a redundancy that is now less useful to most people.

So with that, I turn the conversation to you. Did you ever use Lite Mode in Chrome for Android, or is it just something that you’ve never heard of before today? If you’re living in the United States like I am and have a standard phone plan, this is likely something that was of no consequence to you, but I’d still love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!