Last year, we reported that Google Chrome for Android was finally going 64 bit, but it turns out that things were a bit more complicated than we thought. While we initially thought all devices running Android 10 or higher were receiving the 64-bit version, it soon became clear that some more limitations were involved. Following the release of Chrome 89, Google has finally explained what’s going on. To receive the 64-bit variant automatically, you need to run a phone with Android 10 or higher with at least 8GB of RAM.
The details come as part of a blog post on all the things Google improved to make the latest stable release of Chrome perform better. The move to 64 bit is more relevant on phones with more RAM anyway, where it leads to quite some improvements:
For those of you who picked up the latest Android devices (Android Q+ and 8GB+ of RAM), we’ve rebuilt Chrome as a 64-bit binary, giving you a more stable Chrome that is up to 8.5% faster to load pages and 28% smoother when it comes to scrolling and input latency.
To check which version of Chrome you have, head to chrome://version and look for the details behind the Google Chrome version number. If you haven’t received the 64-bit variant due to lower specs or a slow rollout, you can still give it a try by downloading its APK from our sister site APK Mirror. Look for the version fitting your device and select one with 64 in the architecture details. And keep in mind that if Google doesn’t deem your phone ready for 64 bit, you might be downgraded to 32-bits with the next automatic Play Store update, so you could have to repeat the manual download from time to time to stay on 64 bit.
