Google has been working with Adobe to make Flash content more power-efficient in Chrome. In March, a setting was introduced to play less Flash content on the page, but it wasn’t turned on by default, and in June, the option wasenabled in the browser’s beta channel. Google also hinted that all users would get the feature as soon as next month, and recently the company confirmed it would start rolling it out on September 1.
Here’s how the feature works. Chrome will automatically pause Flash content that isn’t “central to the webpage” while keeping central content playing without interruption. For example, the video you’re trying to watch will be unaffected while animations on the side will be paused. If Chrome pauses something you’re interested in, you can resume playback by just clicking on it.