Apple, Google and Mozilla Collaborate on Speedometer 3 Browser Benchmark

Important reasons: Apple currently maintains Speedometer 2.1, a tool for benchmarking web browsers across different workloads. The next major iteration of the software will receive input from three browsers and his vendors to offset user concerns about potential bias. The new project is in its early stages, but this collaboration is a turning point.

apple, GoogleWhen Mozilla announced that they are co-developing the next version of the Speedometer web browser benchmark to better represent modern browser tasks. The new version is still unstable, but users can start testing it now.

Speedometer 3 is designed to test the full range of how a normal user interacts with a browser by running it on a normal web page rather than a harsh environment benchmark. The developers plan to continuously fine-tune the software based on the latest data on which features matter most to everyday users. Google confirmed that the benchmarks represent JavaScript frameworks and other modern workloads.

It will take some time before Speedometer 3 is fully operational, but more details will be revealed in the coming months. Successful collaboration should give web designers a better understanding of how their work will perform in multiple browsers.

We are pleased to collaborate with @WebKit When @google chrome with speedometer 3. 🌪️

Here’s why this work is important for the web 🧵

— Mozilla Developer ‘🏾‍’ (@mozhacks) December 15, 2022

Most users today who want to see how fast their browsers are responding to their web applications should probably use Speedometer 2.1. However, Apple runs 2.1, so it’s easy to speculate that the results may be biased against Safari’s competitors such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. WebKit-based benchmarks may not fully understand the performance challenges of Blink, V8, or SpiderMonkey.

Apple’s WebKit GitHub page hosts Speedometer 3, but Google and Mozilla are working with the Cupertino giant to develop it. This allows us to treat all three browsers fairly and understand exactly how users are using them. Mozilla’s announcement states that good browser benchmarks require cooperation between browser vendors, website builders, framework builders, and web standards groups.

A consensus governance policy between the three browser giants will guide the development of Speedometer 3. A minor change requires the approval of one company, a major change requires the consent of two companies, and a major change requires the consent of all three companies.