The cadence and schedule of Chrome releases has changed several times over the course of the last year. Currently, Google releases new versions of Chrome every four weeks, with mid-cycle security updates sandwiched between those releases every two weeks. As our online world is changing and malware and security breaches are the norm, there’s a need for more frequent security updates. That’s the reason why Google has decided to change, once again, the update cadence — to weekly updates this time.
Google has confirmed that Chrome will be getting weekly security updates instead of biweekly. According to Google, the fact that Chrome is open-source and anyone can use early Chrome versions before Google actually rolls them out into the stable branch is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it’s good because Google is able to test fixes, discover new bugs, and make sure things are working correctly before something is actually released. But on the other hand, malicious actors also benefit from this openness, being able to probe the code and check for possible security issues and vulnerabilities to exploit. To that effect, Stable users should now expect their browser to update once a week, regardless of whether there’s a new milestone release available or not.
This will not affect major milestone releases. Chrome 116 is still scheduled to release on August 15th, and Chrome 117 will come four weeks later, on September 12th. While those updates land, though, your browser should be getting three security updates between each milestone release. By downloading and updating your browser, you’ll stay safe from any security issues and vulnerabilities that have been documented by Google. It’s kind of a lot, and we’re well aware of it, but ultimately, it’s for your own good.
If you see that an update is available on your browser, make sure to download it promptly to keep your browser secure. Most of the time, these updates will be minor, but who knows — eventually, something catastrophic will evidently be uncovered, and you’ll be thankful for having updated your browser promptly if that’s ever the case.
Source: Google
