Google adds experimental soft navigation metrics to CrUX

Google has introduced experimental versions of the three Core Web Vitals within the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). These new metrics are designed to account for ‘soft navigations,’ which occur when single-page applications (SPAs) update content and URLs without a full page reload.

The update adds three specific fields to CrUX: experimental_largest_contentful_paint_with_softnavs, along with corresponding experimental fields for Interaction to Next Paint (INP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Previously, CrUX only measured the initial load of an SPA, attributing all subsequent in-app interactions to the landing URL. With the Soft Navigations API, which has been enabled by default since Chrome version 151, these events are now tracked individually under their respective destination URLs.

While approximately 70% of CrUX origins show little to no soft navigation traffic, the update significantly impacts sites heavily reliant on SPA architecture. Among the top 1,000 most visited sites, 35% on Android and 42% on desktop are highly dependent on these navigations. Google intends to maintain the experimental status of these metrics until May 2027, pending feedback, at which point Search Console may adopt the data.