Google will be releasing Chrome updates more frequently to roll out security improvements and new features faster to users. For over a decade, Google had been rolling out major Chrome releases every six weeks. Now, it will be every four weeks.
Chrome Will Now Get Milestone Updates Every Four Weeks
Chrome was the first browser to start receiving major updates every six weeks over a decade ago. Eventually, it also started getting important security fixes bi-weekly.
Now though, with the improvement in testing and release processes, Google believes it can shorten Chrome’s release cycle and roll out new features more quickly. In a post on the Chromium Blog, Google notes that it will start rolling out a new milestone release of Chrome every four weeks, starting with the release of Chrome 94 in Q3 2021.
Chrome 94 is currently scheduled for a stable release on September 21, 2021. The new release cycle will be applicable for all platforms on which Chrome is available: Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
For enterprise administrators and Chromium embedders, where stability is very important and such a frequent update cycle could be cumbersome, Google will be offering a new Extended Stable option.
In this channel, the company will roll out new milestone Chrome releases every eight weeks. Major security updates on this channel will be released every two weeks though, so as to fix important issues.
Later this year, @GoogleChrome is moving from a 6-week release cycle to a 4-week release cycle, allowing us to ship new features and help get bug fixes out faster. More details, timelines, and what this means for you at https://t.co/muVvv3TT90
— Chrome Developers (@ChromiumDev) March 4, 2021
All new features and other minor security patches will be rolled out every eight weeks. You can find more information, release date, and changes in upcoming Chrome milestone builds in the Chrome release schedule.
If you are not too fond of Chrome, you can check out some Chrome alternatives that let you browse the web in unique ways.
Multiple Stable Release Options for Chrome OS
The change in the Chrome release cycle will also affect Chrome OS. Google says that it plans to support multiple stable release options for Chrome OS.
Google has not provided any details on the new Chrome OS release cycle yet. It plans to share more information on the different release cycles with Chrome OS users in the coming months.
How to Update to the Latest Chrome Release
Chrome automatically updates itself in the background and only requires a restart for the changes to take effect. So, even when Google switches over to a four-week release cycle for Chrome, you are unlikely to notice it.
You can find out the Chrome build you are running on your PC by clicking on the 3-dot menu button in the top-right corner in Chrome and then going to Settings. From there, click on About Chrome in the bottom-left of the display to find out the build number of Chrome you are running.