The Chrome OS Beta Channel, the last step before a new build of the platform arrives to the masses, has been updated with its fourth Chrome 68 based build today. Build 68.0.3440.59 (Platform version: 10718.50.0) is in the process of rolling out to the majority of devices registered in the channel and should be available today. As always, you can check for the new update manually by typing chrome://help in the browser bar and then clicking the Check for update button.
This fourth update comes two full weeks after the previous update, a unusually long period of time during the beta cycles. Most of the time in the Chrome OS Beta Channel, there is an update every 7-10 days. The delay however could simply be because of the United States Independence holiday which was last week.
Reviewing the change log for this update, the vast majority of the updates in the build are bug fixes and performance improvements. That, of course, is to be expected given it is a beta build and the goal is to make it as bug free as possible prior to releasing it. Of course the biggest news right with this update is the new wallpaper picker and non-secure websites will be clearly noted in the omnibar of the browser across all platforms.
New Wallpaper Picker in Chrome OS
As for when that release date happens, it isn’t much longer now. Chrome 68 is expected to be released to the Chrome OS Stable Channel on or around July 24, 2018. The last few updates to the platform have been behind their scheduled release dates so assume that date is the target but not written in stone as a late bug can delay things.
