Speedometer is a browser benchmark that measures responsiveness by simulating user interactions on demo web applications. Introduced by Apple’s WebKit team, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are now partnering on the development of Speedometer 3.

Speedometer 2.1 is the latest stable release, with 1.0 released in 2014 and a major update (2.0) in 2018. It tries to “capture real-world Web as much as possible” by simulating a user “adding, completing, and removing to-do items using multiple examples.”

For Speedometer 3, the three big browser engines/players are collaborating with a “joint governance model to share work.” The goal is to “build a collaborative understanding of performance on the web to help drive browser performance in ways that help users.”

Google wants the benchmark to “include representative modern workloads, like JavaScript frameworks.” Earlier this year, the Chrome team described Speedometer as being “most reflective of the real world” for comparing the JavaScript performance of desktop browsers.

Mozilla this morning said “it’s time to update it to test real user journeys from online life today,” with the web changing a great deal since the last major release:

Speedometer 3 is currently in active development and more will be shared over the coming months. Until then, you can follow development on Github. 

Many require collaboration across site authors, framework builders, browser vendors and standards groups, which requires a shared understanding of what matters.

More on Chrome:

  • Google Chrome adding Memory and Energy Saver modes on Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks
  • Chrome adds @tabs, @bookmarks, and @history search directly in the address bar
  • Google Password Manager replacing Chrome’s native credentials list on Android
  • Chrome 108 for Android, Mac, Windows enables passkey support

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

We’re excited to work with @googlechrome and @firefox on the next Speedometer benchmark, which measures real-world browser performance on the Web. Working together will help us further improve the benchmark and improve browser performance for our users.https://t.co/8NoPzoh9mF pic.twitter.com/21EjlN1u3z

— WebKit (@webkit) December 15, 2022