Chrome for Android is about to get smoother scrolling

Google makes Android; Google makes Chrome. So, you’d think that Chrome on Android would be a smooth experience. However, it’s better on iOS, and that goes for the scrolling. While that’s the case, Google is working to make the scrolling better on Chrome for Android.

It can be a bit of a shock, but some Google-made apps run better on iOS. Also, oftentimes, the iOS versions of apps often get updates and features before the Android version. When it comes to Chrome, the scrolling on iOS is smoother than it is on Android.

It comes down to the fact that Chrome for Android is meant to be compatible with multiple models of devices. This means that optimization and performance take a hit. Scrolling using Chrome for Android is noticeably more stuttery than on iOS.

A new API could make scrolling on Chrome for Android smoother

Depending on your phone, your scrolling experience will vary, but it’s usually pretty janky. Since it’s meant to work on multiple models of phones, Google can’t be as flexible as it wants to be. However, according to Android Police, Google is going to introduce the new nanosecond API.

Normally, Chrome samples your inputs on a millisecond scale. This worked for years, but the introduction of higher refresh rate screens caused some trouble for this method. So, instead of doing that, Chrome will sample touches in nanosecond intervals. This should help with the higher refresh rate and hopefully make the scrolling smoother. In fact, Google’s blog post says that the scrolling should be twice as smooth.

This API could be making it to the public pretty soon. Google plans on releasing this new API with Chrome version 116. Since Chrome gets monthly updates, we expect this addition to land sometime in September if not late August. This might make Chrome even better to use on Android.