Google Chrome already releases new major versions every four weeks, delivering new features, web APIs, bug fixes, and critical security patches.That’s now changing to every weeks, and other Chrome-based browsers could follow suit.Starting in September 2026, Chrome will switch to a two-week release cycle, Google confirmed in a blog post today.
Chrome has received new major releases every four weeks since 2021, and weekly security patches were added to the mix in 2023.Chrome version 153 will kick off the new schedule on September 8, and after that, there will be a new stable and beta release each two weeks.The Dev and Canary channels aren’t affected.
The blog post explained, “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.Building on our history of adapting our release process to match the demands of a modern web, Chrome is moving to a two-week release cycle.While releases will be more frequent, their smaller scope minimizes disruption and simplifies post-release debugging.” Google is also assuring that Chrome will remain a stable and reliable platform, even with the more rapid schedule.
There’s still room for concern, though—not only is Chrome a widely-used web browser, but it’s also the operating system for Chromebooks, and the primary web rendering engine for Android apps.Back in 2019, a bug in Chrome 79 temporarily caused many Android apps to lose locally-stored data, because the apps were using the system WebView powered by Chrome.Importantly, new Chrome updates usually don’t come with new visible features.
Google works on new features in Chrome as feature flags, which are then enabled with server-side rollouts at a later time, independent of new versioned releases.For example, a feature might be developed in Chrome 100, 101, and 102, then rolled out to everyone a week after Chrome 102 is released.However, new Chrome releases usually have new APIs for websites and web apps, along with security patches and bug fixes.
There are also no changes to Chrome Extended Stable, the version of Chrome intended for companies and other organizations that need additional time to manage updates.The Extended Stable browser will still receive new updates every eight weeks, similar to Firefox’s Extended Support Release (ESR) channel.Subscribe to our newsletter for expert Chrome release coverage Get clear, actionable analysis in our newsletter about Chrome's move to a two-week release cycle, what it means for web APIs, security, and enterprise builds, plus ongoing coverage of browser platform developments.
Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.You can unsubscribe anytime.It’s not clear if web browsers based on Chrome will follow the same release schedule.
Microsoft Edge has stuck close to Google’s development cycle, but the browser’s documentation still mentions a 4-week release schedule, and Microsoft has not made an announcement about changing that.Vivaldi, Opera, and some other forks are already slow to bring new Chromium engine versions to their browsers.Source: Chrome for Developers Blog
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