Category: Chrome OS

For the third time this month, the Dev Channel for Chrome OS is receiving a Chrome 65 based build update.  The new update is build 65.0.3325.35 (Platform version: 10323.9.0) for those keeping score at home and is bug and stability update.  The channel was updated back on January 19 for the first build of Chrome 65 then followed up on January 24 with a second build.

As mentioned in previous posts about the Dev Channel, it is best to consider it the alpha build channel and it is by no means aimed to be run in production.  It is purely for developers and testers so they can begin working on updates to their apps & extensions to be compatible with the new build.  I do not recommend everyday users of Chrome OS to move to this channel unless you are into bug hunting and like having crash issues. 🙂

As Android app support continues to grow and develop in Chrome OS, a new commit suggest that it is about to get even better.  The new commit points to Android app being able to be resized while in split screen support.  Split screen support is is currently in the Dev channel and it will likely be a few months before we see it in the Stable channel.   This new feature would allow for resizing of the apps when you are in split screen mode.

With this new feature, you would be able to control the overall screen real estate that an Android app takes up on your Chromebook specifically when it is in tablet mode.  Right now, everything automatically gets kicked into full screen mode.

The Dev Channel for Chrome OS has another incremental update rolling out this morning.  The update is still in the Chrome 65 train and updates the build to version 65.0.3325.9 (Platform version: 10323.1.0).  If you have a device in the Dev Channel, you can type chrome://help to check for the update an install it.

As I pointed out last week with the first Chrome 65 build for Chrome OS, the Dev Channel is not aimed to be used in production.  It is an alpha level build of the platform aimed at developers.  It almost certainly will have show stopping bugs and issues as the Chromium team within Google and developers hone the build to get it ready for Beta then production.

Following on the release of a new Dev channel build for Chrome OS, there is now a new Beta channel build too.  Build 64.0.3282.101 (Platform version: 10176.54.0) has been released for most devices and can be downloaded now, if you are in the beta channel, by typing chrome://help  in the omnibar in the browser.

The update has a laundry list of fixes and improvements that you can read here if you are so inclined.  Ultimately there are a lot of general improvements to the platform.

For developers and for those who like a good bug hunt, the Chromium team within Google has released a new build to the Chrome OS Dev channel.  The Dev channel is really aimed only at developers to give a sneak peak into what will be coming up.  In this case, it is the first build based on Chrome 65.  It is build 65.0.3322.0 (Platform version: 10315.0.0).

For those that aren’t familiar with the different Chrome OS channels, the Dev channel is essentially the alpha channel.  This can be a really rough experience with lots of weird behavior and bugs.  It is aimed at developers and those who like serious bug hunting to see what is coming up in the platform.  This channel is not recommended for daily use on your daily driver Chromebook.

It looks like native video recording from your Chromebook’s webcam is finally coming to Chrome OS.  A new commit in the Chrome Review Gerrit points to support for video recording so long as the device is using the MediaRecorder APIs found in the platform.

We are implementing recording functionality in chrome camera app on ChromeOS devices with MediaRecorder APIs. Enabling HW VEA would greatly improve the performance. For example, FPS increases from 7 to 30 on kevin.

For reference, the device name Kevin is the Samsung Chromebook Pro.