What is Chrome
Google Chrome is a closed-source web browser developed and maintained by Google. With its ease-of-use and customization options, Google Chrome makes it easy to access the web from mobile devices and desktop computers. Chrome is renowned for its increased speed and performance compared to similar browsers like Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox. Chrome was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows. Since then, Chrome has been released on macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Fans of Google Chrome love its vast library of extensions, excellent performance, and customizability. However, Chrome has received some criticism for its high memory usage and Google’s history of data tracking. According to Statcounter, Chrome is the world’s most popular web browser with a 63.5% market share. Although this is down from Chrome’s all-time peak of 72% in 2018, Google still holds a significant monopoly on the browser market.
AVIF support
Google was one of the first large corporations, behind Netflix and VLC, to throw their support behind AVIF. This makes sense given Google’s involvement in the standard’s development. Chrome has supported viewing AVIF images and animations since Chrome 85 in August 2020. Google was quick to support the platform as it skipped the testing phase before including the feature in a live update due to low risk. Chrome’s mobile apps - Chrome for iOS and Chrome for Android - have also provided full support for the AVIF image standard.