Well, of course, the latter word would be the obvious familiar one to you, the former would not have struck your knowledge much. Hopefully, you would have heard of Chromium once or twice, but the apparent probability is that around 60% of people would not have heard this word even for once. And in the remaining 40% tech-savvy people, 20% would not know the exact meaning of Chromium. This makes clear the very importance of this article, i.e., enlightening you on the concept of ‘Chromium vs. Chrome.’
Here we will expansively compare Chromium and Chrome, based on certain parameters. And you will be able to not only understand both of them but would eventually figure the best and right one for you. Understanding differences between high-end products do seem technical but when broken down into chunks and taken piece by piece, it becomes an easy job.
Without much bluffing, let’s begin –
Introduction
Chrome is a famous, user-friendly browser app that is made for general public use. It is definitely one of the leaders of its genre and is a product of Google.
Chromium is basically a source code, which is open-source and is free and is a project of Google. It is maintained as the base for several browsers including Chrome. And it is not that user-friendly if one compares to Chrome.
Features
Chrome has a lot more features than Chromium. It has an update mechanism, where every update focuses on removing the error and making the system smoother. It supports multiple technologies and has access to play copyrighted content. Also, it can be downloaded easily through Google PlayStore.
Chromium supports very few features, does not have an update mechanism, and also is not available on Google PlayStore for easy downloading. But being open-source it can be modified by any developer and therefore the changes and updates are more frequent than in any other software.
Stability
Chrome is a comparatively stable product. It sends error reports directly to Google which makes it easy for Google to keep Chrome stable and better. But because of this, Chrome doesn’t allow you to access and install anonymous extensions that are not on the Chrome Web Store, since such extensions can be malicious which would interrupt the stability of Chrome.
Chromium, on the other hand, was not formed for the common users but was made keeping the developers’ needs and enthusiasm in mind. In that situation, an expectation of stability from the software would not be a very intelligent thought. With its always changing source code, the stability feature does not promise much. But it allows you to download extensions from third-party sites too.
Flash support
We would first like to introduce you to a brief summary of what flash player is, in case you don’t know it already!
While we use a browser and surf the internet, the browser we are working on utilizes applications called plug-ins. One of the major ones is Adobe Flash Player. Flash player is actually an important tool to let you Play Games, Open media, Play MP3 and Mp4 files on your browser.
This flash player apart from its importance is also responsible for leading the threat of certain malware and viruses.
Chrome on one hand fully supports Flash Player and AAC, H.264, MP3, which enables you to watch videos, have fun with audios, and binge-watch Netflix.
Whereas Chromium, on the other hand, does not give any such support since it does not support Flash Player. So if you are on Chromium then you need to manually install these codecs, like AAC, H.264, MP3 or any other Converters to watch or listen to any media formats.
History tracking of users
When in comparison with Chromium, Chrome suffers only one drawback, which is that it works on cookies and stores the history and browsing data and provides it to Google too, keeping user’s privacy on an edge.
But Chromium does not do any such thing. It will not store any of your cookies, history, or data and will neither send it to Google. So you can be completely sure of your privacy when working with Chromium.
Security sandbox
Let us first see what a Security Sandbox is. A security sandbox is a mechanism that is set to distinguish running programs from one another in order to avoid system failures and malware and vulnerabilities which might have a chance to spread from one program to another.
It is a preventive measure that is used to safeguard the system from a third party, unsecured program.
See it like when we put a sandbox in the middle of a park or garden so that children can have sand to play but that sand won’t spill and destroy the garden and the grass.
When talking about Chromium vs. Chrome in terms of security sandbox, both of the software have this in them. The difference is Chrome has it enabled in it automatically so you don’t have to bother to turn it on or even care to know how and what it is.
But in Chromium, even though this feature is embedded in the code it is disabled by default. If you want to enable it, you will have to do that manually.
Crash reports
One great feature that chrome provides is that whenever there is a system crash, it immediately reports the same to us and google.
But when we speak of Chromium, it does not give a crash report at all. So if a system crashed while working, neither you nor Google would now.
This makes it more vulnerable and unstable.
Security
As stated, Chrome gives automatic updates from time to time, which includes the latest security updates launched while keeping in mind the current increasing threats and malware. This makes it clear that Chrome offers a great deal of security to its users.
While in Chromium, neither the updates are given and nor are the security updates granted. But it even does not restrict importing the latest security programs. So if you want to keep your program clean, you have to import the security updates by yourself.
Beta versions
When you download the Chrome stable version, it automatically gives you a beta-tested version with all the updates already installed and set in.
Whereas when you go for Chromium downloading, you will see a separate beta version with some extra features on it.
Testings
Chrome gets its updates tested by experts first and then only grants the latest versions among its users.
Chromium works in another way by distributing the updates first before getting them tested. So whatever new releases you get on Chromium are raw.
Cross-platform
Well, Chrome isn’t the market leader just based on its features and security but mainly because it is accessible on almost all operating systems like, Android, iOS, Windows. Plus, it offers real-time syncing across all the devices, you save anything on chrome from your laptop, you can see it from your android too. And now you can even send a running website to your recognized Android device, so you don’t even have to bother to retype the web address.
Although Chromium too offers compatibility with multiple operating software, but then not again with so much variety as Chrome offers. Also, the real-time syncing feature is not for Chromium.
Audience
If we have to talk about what the audience does both of them attract, then one cannot specifically differentiate if that person should have chrome or chromium. Being the product of the same company, they show some lines of similarities.
But if we have to talk vaguely, Chrome has a certain edge for the common users who see it as a browser mainly to complete their daily tasks and research. A common user doesn’t mind about the open-source, or if it has technical abilities or not. As long it’s work is fulfilled by receiving correct information, he is satisfied.
But Chromium is for the tech minds who want to do more than just open and surf basic websites. If one is interested in working with source codes and high-end things with a bit of stability, then Chromium should be the choice.
Conclusion –
As we talked about each point explaining to you the meaning and purpose of each function and if Chrome and Chromium support the same or not, we hope that your vision between the two would have been a lot improvised.
We also mentioned what kind of users would be beneficial and satisfied where. But again there is no such parameter as to set one of them above the other. They both although being of the same genre, have very distinctive qualities and stand-alone characteristics.
Therefore, when choosing between both then you have to judge according to your need and expectations from a browser.
Both being the products of Google branding, are highly trusted and advanced. So the question of getting malware and viruses directly from any of them should be erased. It’s just the question of your need which should be the judging criteria while selecting between Chrome or chromium.
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