Google has historically released new versions of Chrome every six weeks with minor patches implemented between them. In a major shift, Google Chrome is moving to a four-week update cycle this year.
From the beginning, Google took an aggressive stance when updating its browser in the background. Chrome is designed in this way to ensure security, with new versions being downloaded silently and users often being asked to install by restarting.
Major versions (ie 88 -> 89) with new features are released every six weeks, while minor updates with a focus on security come every two weeks. Later this year, Google plans to launch a “milestone” every four weeks so that new features on the Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS and Chrome OS can come on a faster monthly basis.
As we improved our testing and release processes for Chrome and deployed fortnightly security updates to improve our patch gap, it became clear that we could shorten our release cycle and deliver new features more quickly.
This four-week cycle is expected to allow Google to “move most users more consistently to the most recent stable version in 2 weeks”.
As part of this change, “corporate administrators and Chromium incorporators who need additional time to manage updates” will achieve an “Extended Stable” milestone that is in a longer eight-week cycle. Regular unmanaged Chrome users will not have access to this channel.
Security updates in Extended Stable will be released every two weeks to fix major issues, but these updates will not contain any new features or any security fixes that the 4-week option will receive.
Chrome OS, which is updated a week after the desktop and mobile, is also receiving support for several stable releases. More details are set to arrive in the coming months for Chromebook administrators with managed devices.
Google will implement this new release cycle with Chrome 94 in the third quarter of 2021. The company is planning this update for September 21, with the last six-week version being Chrome 93 on August 31. A preliminary schedule is available with the new documentation, and the team is receiving feedback from Chromium contributors at [email protected].
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