Google Chrome’s secret loading feature could speed up browsing for you

If you’ve ever opened a webpage and wondered why it takes a second too long to settle, especially when it’s packed with videos and media, this upcoming change might finally fix that. For years, Chromium-based browsers — including Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi — have supported lazy loading. But only for images and iframes. That’s not quite the same for video and audio. But that’s about to change. Thanks to a proposal by independent developer Helmut Januschka, Chromium-based browsers are gearing up to support native lazy loading for video and audio elements as well. And while it sounds like a technical footnote, it could make browsing much smoother.

What lazy loading actually does (and why it matters)

Normally, when you open a webpage, your browser goes into overdrive trying to load everything at once: images, videos, audio, ads, the whole buffet. Unsurprisingly, that is not great for speed. Lazy loading takes a smarter approach. Instead of pulling in everything up front, the browser waits and loads content only when you are about to see it. So if a video or image sits further down the page, it will not load until you scroll near it, and if you never get there, it may not load at all. The result is faster page loads, lower data usage, and a smoother browsing experience.

Here is where it gets interesting. Websites already use lazy loading for videos and audio, but they mostly rely on JavaScript workarounds to implement it. It gets the job done, but it is far from elegant. Developers typically use tools like Intersection Observer to detect when media enters the viewport and then trigger loading manually. It is a bit clunky, can be error-prone, and does not always play nicely with the browser’s built-in optimizations. Januschka’s proposal aims to clean this up. Instead of all that extra scripting, developers can simply add the native HTML attribute loading="lazy" directly to video and audio elements, making the whole process much more streamlined.

Why native support is a big deal

When the browser takes over lazy loading, it simply does a better job:

Put simply, it is cleaner, faster, and more efficient. As Januschka highlighted, this also aligns video and audio with how images and iframes already behave, resulting in a more consistent and predictable experience across the web. This feature has been progressing through Chromium’s pipeline:

Now, a recent code change suggests it may be enabled by default in stable builds. If things continue as expected, it could roll out with Chrome 148.