Category: Chrome OS

The continued interweaving of Chrome OS and Android looks to be taking another step forward, but it will be a while for this one.  A new commit points to Chrome OS getting Android-like lock screen notifications.  In theory, it would function much like they do on Android, allowing for the message center to be visible while your Chromebook is locked.

The new ability would come via a flag that would be aptly named enable-lock-screen-notification and would give users notifications on their lock screen for the user that is logged into the device.

If your organization has Hangouts Meet or Chrome for Meetings hardware, there is a new update rolling out to you.  The Chrome 64 update for these hardware solutions has been released, taking you up to build Stable Channel Chrome OS release but has the Huddly firmware which is updated to 1.2.10.

For those that aren’t familiar with these two solutions, they are physical hardware packaged solutions that run on Chrome OS designed for conferences and meeting rooms.  They are available to G Suite customers in the Education, Business and Enterprise versions of the platform.

A new commit in the Chrome OS code review may give the first indicator of what will be replacing the now defunct Supervised Account feature of the platform.  The commit points to a new Chrome OS Account Manager.  The details are pretty thin on it and the comments are still private so there is very little to go on to be fair.

However, this is the first commit to point to anything remotely resembling Supervised Accounts.  That feature, most often used for child accounts on Chromebooks, was deprecated earlier this year.  Google at the time indicated a new solution would be coming forward but didn’t give a timeline.  It may be coming sooner rather than later.

The touch enablement of Chrome OS continues, as well as the merging of look-and-feel elements between it and Android.  The latest example is in the Chrome OS Canary Channel, the pre-alpha builds of the platform, where you will now find the Power menu to look strikingly similar to its Android counterpart.

The new came from long time Chrome OS evangelist François Beaufort who posted about the find on Google+.  If you are a fan of Chrome OS, Francois is one you need to follow as he is great at finding these little nuggets, especially in the Canary Channel.

There is a new commit for Chrome OS that will make life a lot easier for Chromebook users who connect their devices to external monitors.  The commit, which has its flag live now in the Chrome OS Dev Channel (Chrome 66), will preserve app window locations when you disconnect a monitor and reconnect it.

The flag, for those running a device in the Dev Channel, is chrome://flags/#ash-enable-persistent-window-bounds so you can test it out now.  Given it is essentially in the Alpha build of Chrome 66, it may still be buggy so bare that in mind as you test it.

The fourth and final beta of Chrome 65 has been released to testers in the Chrome OS Beta Channel.  The update is build 65.0.3325.148 (Platform version: 10323.52.0) and should be available to everyone who is running a device in the beta channel.

Given that the Chromium team has pegged March 13th as the release date of Chrome 65 for Chrome OS, this could well end up being the Stable Channel build that is released next Tuesday.  For those new to Chrome OS, the beta channel is the last channel a new build comes to prior to being released in the Stable channel.