While the official Google changelog list of features in Chrome OS 72 Stable Channel has some welcome additions, there’s plenty more goodness included behind these scenes.
Browsing: Chrome OS
Using an Android app to annotate PDFs on your Chromebook? You may not have to much longer: Google introduced a native PDF markup function in the latest Dev Channel of Chrome OS 73 that works with a stylus or a finger on a touchscreen.
A small code change will lead to a largely desired function, particularly for enterprise users: VPN support for Linux apps in Crostini on a Chromebook. Yes, you can use an Android VPN app for Chrome OS, but that security won’t extend to Linux.
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.
After making good progress on audio support for Linux apps on Chrome OS, the feature appears to have missed the cut for Chrome OS 73: Tune in to Chrome OS 74, at the earliest, for audio playback in Project Crostini.
One of the most read posts on About Chromebooks is from last April when I detailed how I was coding with my Pixelbook. Now that Project Crostini has quickly matured, I’ve revamped my development environment on the Pixel Slate.
The Pixelbook and four other fairly new Chromebooks have the special flag to enable GPU acceleration, making these the first to get the new feature for Linux. This should bring the Android emulator and improved gaming capabilities to Project Crostini.
Unlike the Chrome browser on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, Chrome OS doesn’t require additional authentication when viewing your saved passwords. That may change due to a bug report, although there’s a debate on if this should just apply to enterprises.
The Chrome OS 73 Dev Channel brings a bunch of useful features to Project Crostini on Chromebooks. You can now mount your Google Drive and Google Play files in Linux. Plus there are new flags to enable a Crostini file backup function that’s in the works.
Using a Linux app on your Chromebook and you just can’t read or use text and app controls because they’re super small? The reason may be due to display scaling and a new option is available in Chrome OS 72 to address it.
Turns out that Google has known about the tablet overview mode animation lag since before the Pixel Slate even shipped, based on bug reports. One trace indicates 1.5GB of memory in use for the graphics, which help explain issues in the Celeron model.