A new commit found in the Chromium Gerrit for Chrome OS suggest that Android Oreo style App Notifications are going to be making their way to Chrome OS. The commit indicates that the notifications would be for apps that are pinned to your Chromebook’s shelf and would work with both Chrome-based apps as well as Android apps. Further, there is also a file associated with the commit that suggests app shortcuts could be coming to Chrome OS too.
The commit for these new features appears to be well down the path of being implemented with bug reports being filed within the Chromium team. What that means for end users is that we could see these new features show up in the beta of Chrome 65 or 66 with a stable channel release later this year, possibly in the first half of the year.
The news of App Notifications in Chrome OS is hardly surprising. Google is focused on making the integration between it and Android as seamless as possible for users and, with App Notifications already in Android, it makes sense they would bring them over to Chrome too. It is all a part of the effort to give you the same look, feel and options across both platforms.
While we are still likely months away from seeing this new feature, it is exciting to see where the Chrome OS team is going with the platform.
