Cloudflare has introduced a new feature designed to dramatically reduce web page load times by anticipating user behavior and fetching content before navigation even occurs.
The new Speed Brain feature, which is hoped to deliver near-instantaneous page loading, uses the emerging Speculation rules API, which allows browsers to download the next likely page in advance based on user actions.
This involves following where a user hovers or clicks their cursor to anticipate the next step and pre-download static content.
Cloudflare will predict how you navigate the web
Initial tests have already shown promising results, with up to a 75% reduction in Largest Contentful Pain (LCP) – a key metric used to measure how fast a web page’s largest visible emelemtn loads.
Speed Brain gets its power from Cloudflare’s network, which spans 330 cities worldwide. This widespread and fast infrastructure allows it to deliver the content quickly.
The functionality is now available for all Cloudflare plan types, including free plans, where it will be enabled by default. Business and enterprise customers will also have access, but they’ll need to activate it manually.
From launch, Speed Brain is supported by Chromium-based browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, however the company promises to be working with partners to expand support across other browsers, too.
To coincide with Speed Brain’s launch, the California-based company also recommends enabling Real User Measurements (RUM) to track performance gains and optimize pre-fetching rules.
Moreover, while the feature is primarily focused on static content for now, it offers an insight into how Cloudflare and other companies are dedicated to speeding up other areas of browsing in the future.
