Google Chrome is about to get much faster — No, not when it comes to loading pages, but in regard to how quickly it evolves.
If you’ve been a Google Chrome user for a while now, you’d recall that the browser once followed a relatively leisurely six-week release cycle. Then, in March 2021, the most-used browser in the world shifted to a four-week release cycle.
Chrome’s speedy release cycle will soon be even faster
Hold on to your butts
Now, roughly five years after following the same release cycle, Chrome is ready to level up again. Starting September 2026, Google Chrome will slash the schedule in half and move to a two-week release cycle.
Google uses these releases to ship new features for Chrome. Chrome 146, for example, brings scroll-triggered animations and new web APIs.
This comes after Chrome moved to a weekly security update release cycle in 2023, complete with ‘early stable‘ rollouts with Chrome 110 to ensure stability and release quality.
The web platform is constantly advancing, and our goal is to ensure developers and users have immediate access to the latest performance improvements, fixes and new capabilities. While releases will be more frequent, their smaller scope minimizes disruption and simplifies post-release debugging. And thanks to recent process enhancements, we are confident this shift will maintain our high standards for stability.
Here’s what the new release cycle will look like
In September, the browser will be at Chrome 153. For reference, under the original schedule, Chrome 153 would have been released in stable on September 22. With the new schedule, the build will drop on September 8. Similarly, Chrome 154, which originally would have been rolled out in stable on October 20, will now be rolled out on September 22.
This applies to Chrome on desktop, Android, and iOS. “There will be no changes to the Dev and the Canary channels,” added Google.
|
Stage |
Chrome 153 (Old) |
Chrome 153 (New) |
Chrome 154 (Old) |
Chrome 154 (New) |
|
Branch |
Mon, Aug 24 |
Mon, Aug 17 |
Mon, Sep 21 |
Mon, Aug 31 |
|
Beta Promotion |
Wed, Aug 26 |
Wed, Aug 19 |
Wed, Sep 23 |
Wed, Sep 2 |
|
Stable Cut |
Tue, Sep 8 |
Tue, Aug 25 |
Tue, Oct 6 |
Tue, Sep 8 |
|
Early Stable Release |
Wed, Sep 9 |
Wed, Aug 26 |
Wed, Oct 7 |
Wed, Sep 9 |
|
Stable Release |
Tue, Sep 22 |
Tue, Sep 8 |
Tue, Oct 20 |
Tue, Sep 22 |
You can keep track of upcoming Chrome releases and included features on the Chrome Status Roadmap here.
