Google updates Chrome browser with a focus on easier content distribution
As Google LLC hosts its annual Chrome Developer Summit this week, it’s announcing several developer-centric updates to its popular web browser.

A big focus of Google’s efforts with its Chrome browser in recent times has been on expanding the versatility of the internet and making it more accessible, and to do that it’s giving developers access to tools that will allow them to distribute their content more easily. One example is Google’s Portals tool, available in preview since last year, which developers can use to “pre-render” content and then embed it within their websites, allowing for much faster loading times.

Extending this capability, Google today introduced Web Bundles, an experimental new feature that enables content to be distributed across the web in any format without the need for a constant connection, be it email, FTP or USB.

“Not only does this unlock delivery of web content at lightning fast speeds, it also allows for distribution to happen when your user is offline,” Dion Almaer of Chrome’s Web Developer Ecosystem team wrote in a blog post.

Web Bundles is complemented by Google’s new Background Periodic Sync and Content Indexing application programming interfaces. Currently available as “Origin Trials,” they can be used by developers to “proactively cache and surface relevant web content for people, even if they’re not on an active internet connection,” Google said.

Additional updates to Chrome cater to what Google calls “the rise of mobile-first in developing markets.” They’re focused on bringing “native-like experiences” to those who primarily access the web from mobile devices.