Can’t wait to have native VPN support for Linux apps in Project Crostini? You don’t need to: The Chrome OS 75 Dev Channel now extends Android VPN security to Linux on a Chromebook.
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The newest version of Chrome OS 75 finally brings USB device support to Project Crostini. Using Linux on my Chromebook, I can even use ADB commands to a connected Android phone.
Using an Android VPN app on your Chromebook? That’s great as long as you stay in Chrome OS: You won’t get VPN security when using Linux apps. A recent code commit suggests that Chrome OS will extend Android VPN support to Linux, however.
Hopefully, Google will add optional Android widget support to Chromebooks in the future. Until that happens, give Taskbar a try: If you have a Chromebook running Android 9 Pie, you can use this app to add any Android widgets to your Chrome OS desktop view.
Excited to download content from Android apps such as Google Play Movies, Spotify and other apps to an external storage card on your Chromebook? If you have Chrome OS 72, it works, but there’s a trick involved. Here’s how to do it.
It’s not an official commitment to a particular release, but Google is considering a way to sideload Android apps from outside of the Google Play Store on a Chromebook in the next few months. It’s going to depend on security and other priorities, however.
Until today, you officially needed a Google-branded Android phone and Chromebook to use the Instant Tethering feature for connectivity when you can’t find a Wi-Fi hotspot. Now, the feature is expanding to partner devices with more in the coming months.
Originally only for Chromebook users with a Google Pixel phone, the Instant Tethering feature of Chrome OS now supports non-Pixel Android handsets in the Dev Channel. Here’s how to use it and which phones, so far, work with it.
Forget pairing Bluetooth headphones each and every time you use a new device: Google’s Fast Pair will sync those devices so you pair just once and then every device, including Chromebooks, will automatically work with them.
The Pixel Slate and Keyboard aren’t for everyone when there are less expensive 2-in-1 Chromebooks available. But if you want the best of both a Chrome OS desktop and a tablet mode, aside from a few minor issues, this potent package is exceptional.
The Android version of Google Duo has been quietly updated to support Chromebooks. This is likely in anticipation for the Pixel Slate and its Duo Cam, but it can be installed on clamshell Chromebooks as well.