Inactive tab throttling is a feature to limit the resource usage of tabs that are not currently in focus. The most commonly used browsers including Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari have this feature. It works in the way that when a tab is not active, the browser limits the amount of CPU and network resources that the tab can consume to preserve battery life and improve overall system performance. While using Javascript limited resources can lead to slow performance or even errors so the feature of inactive tab throttling can cause some problems. The main purpose of inactive tab throttling is to provide an overall better experience by ensuring that the browser is not wasting resources on tabs that are currently not in use.
In this article, you will learn about the impact that inactive tab throttling has on web applications, and the knowledge and tools needed to optimize your web apps for better performance and user experience in the presence of inactive tab throttling. The goal of this article is to provide you with information about
- Impact of inactive tab throttling on web apps
- Issues due to Inactive Tab Throttling
- Strategies for Mitigating Inactive Tab Throttling
Impact of Inactive Tab Throttling on Web Apps
Inactive tab throttling can significantly impact JavaScript-based web applications. As JavaScript code relies on a steady flow of CPU and network resources to function, so due to Inactive Tab Throttling when these resources are limited, can lead to unresponsive user interfaces, slow performance, and other errors. The performance of the web app as a whole may be impacted when a tab is throttled because JavaScript code may execute slowly or with a delay. The user experience may suffer if, for instance, the web app depends on JavaScript to update data since updates may become sluggish or delayed.
Another common issue is that due to the tab throttling limited resources are available to the tab so JavaScript-based animations or interactions may become choppy or unresponsive. Eventually, this makes the web app feel less smooth and polished.
Sometimes the inactive tab throttling may lead to the incomplete execution of the JavaScript code due to the limited resources available to the tab. It makes the web app challenging to use by causing errors and unexpected behavior.
Overall, by restricting the resources that are accessible to the JavaScript code, inactive tab throttling can negatively impact the functionality and performance of online applications that are based on JavaScript.
Issues due to Inactive Tab Throttling
Some common issues that can arise as a result of inactive tab throttling include:
- Slow Performance
- Error Messages
- Choppy Animations
- Background Process Interruption
- Video and Audio Playback
- Network Requests
Here you will learn in detail about all of the issues mentioned above:
1. Slow Performance
Inactive tab throttling can impact the performance of the whole web app because JavaScript code may execute slowly or with a delay. The user experience may suffer if, for instance, the web app depends on JavaScript to update data since updates may become sluggish or delayed.
2. Error Messages
Sometimes the inactive tab throttling may lead to the incomplete execution of the JavaScript code due to the limited resources available to the tab. It makes the web app challenging to use by causing errors and unexpected behavior.
3. Choppy Animations
Due to the tab’s restricted resources, JavaScript-based animations or interactions may appear choppy or unresponsive. The online app may feel less professional and slick as a result.
4. Background Process Interruption
This functionality may have an impact on some web applications that use background processes or services, such as chat applications or social media feeds, as the browser may terminate the background process once the tab is throttled.
5. Video and Audio Playback
Video and audio playing on web apps might also be affected by inactive tab throttling; eventually, it may become choppy or stop entirely.
6. Network Requests
When the tab is throttled, web apps that depend on frequent network connections may have problems with delayed or even terminated requests.
These are but a few instances of how inactive tab throttling may have an impact on JavaScript-based web apps, but the specific problems may vary depending on the features of the web app and how it makes use of JavaScript and network resources.
Strategies for Mitigating Inactive Tab Throttling
Following are some methods you can use to mitigate the inactive tab throttling on your browsers:
- Using the Page Visibility API
- Utilizing Web Workers
- Other Browser-specific Methods
Using the Page Visibility API
You can determine a web page’s visibility using a JavaScript API called Page Visibility API. Developers may track when a tab is hidden or becomes visible using the `visibilitychange` event provided by the API, which is triggered whenever the visibility of a page changes.
Also, you may use the `postMessage()` function to communicate with a background script when a tab is hidden by using the Page Visibility API to determine when a tab is hidden (for example Web Workers or Service Workers). It mitigates the impact of inactive tab throttling by enabling the background script to continue performing JavaScript code even while the tab is inactive.
Given below is an example code of how to use the Page Visibility API to determine whether a tab is hidden:
// Listen for visibility change events
document.addEventListener("visibilitychange", handleVisibilityChange);
function handleVisibilityChange() {
if (document.hidden) {
// The tab is now hidden
// Send a message to the background script to keep running the JavaScript code
postMessage("continue-processing");
} else {
// The tab is now visible
// Send a message to the background script to stop running the JavaScript code
postMessage("stop-processing");
}
}It is worth noting that the vast majority of modern browsers support Page Visibility API, but Internet explorer doesn’t.
With the Page Visibility API, you can detect when the tab is hidden and take necessary measures to keep the background script running, thus limiting the effects of inactive tab throttling on their web app.
Utilizing Web Workers
The second you can use to mitigate the effects of inactive tab throttling is to utilize Web Workers.
A JavaScript API called Web Workers enables site designers to run JavaScript code on a separate background thread from the web page’s main thread. It allows developers to carry out background processing or other processes without having an impact on the performance of the web page.
You can use Web Workers to make a background script that executes on a different thread from the main page. As a result, it reduces the impacts of inactive tab throttling since background scripts can continue processing JavaScript code even if the tab is inactive.
Here is an example of how to utilize a Web Worker for background processing:
// Create a new worker
const worker = new Worker("background-worker.js");
// Send a message to the worker to start processing
worker.postMessage("start-processing");
// Listen for messages from the worker
worker.onmessage = function(event) {
console.log("Received message from worker: " + event.data);
}In the example above, the main page launches the background-worker.js script, which creates a new Worker object. The main page uses the postMessage() function to send messages to the worker and the onmessage event to receive messages from the worker.
It’s important to note that although most contemporary web browsers support the Web Workers API, certain restrictions include access to some things. The API that is accessible from inside a worker is restricted and Web Workers do not have access to the DOM.
To avoid the impacts of inactive tab throttling, you can use Web Workers to build background scripts that run in a different thread from the main page. It allows their web applications to continue processing JavaScript code even when the tab is inactive.
Other Browser-specific Methods
You can mitigate the effects of inactive tab throttling using some browser-specific methods on the browsers given below:
- Firefox
- Safari
- Edge
- Opera
Firefox
Firefox has a feature called “Tab Hibernation”. Using this feature Firefox automatically suspends the tabs that have been inactive for a certain period. While using the Firefox browser tabs.onUpdated event can be utilized by developers to determine a tab suspension and to perform the necessary action.
Edge
There is a feature on Edge called “Sleeping tabs”. If you use Edge and some tabs remain inactive for a certain period, this feature automatically suspends them.
To detect a tab suspension you can use the “visibilitychange” event and decide what action you should take later on.
Safari
Safari has a feature called “Tab Purging” that automatically purges tabs that have been inactive for a certain period. Developers can use the “beforeunload” event to detect when a tab is about purging and take appropriate action.
Opera
In Opera, there is a feature called “tab freezing”. This feature automatically suspends tabs that have been inactive for a certain period. You can use the “visibilitychange” event to detect tab suspension and take necessary action.
Conclusion
Modern web browsers limit the amount of resources that inactive tabs can use through a feature called “inactive tab throttling”. Due to the restricted resources, this feature has a major effect on web applications that depend on JavaScript to run correctly.
As a developer, you have several options to limit the impact of inactive tab throttling, such as using the Page Visibility API, Web Workers, and different browser-specific techniques. Using these methods you can continue running JavaScript code even when the tab is inactive without affecting the performance of the web applications.
Developers need to use the appropriate methods to optimize their web apps for better performance and user experience. It can help to ensure that their web apps remain responsive and functional, even when the tab is inactive.