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Android 13 promises improved memory management, but not necessarily for everybody
It'll impact low-end hardware the most
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No matter how much RAM manufacturers pour into their smartphones, we've all experienced Android killing background apps a little too relentlessly. At best, it might mean relaunching your last-played song on Spotify, or reloading a tweet on Twitter, but in some cases, you might end up losing unsaved data. With an upcoming change to Android 13 currently in testing, Google might finally be ready to improve how memory management works.
Chromebooks are getting better keyboard and mouse support in games with this new change
It extends keyboard and mouse support to incompatible games
Many of us have been working from home for a long time now, and if you've got a stressful job, it's vital to take time relaxing and winding down after work. With the vast catalog of apps now available for Chromebooks thanks to the Play Store, it's easier than ever to get hooked on addictive games like PUBG or Among Us. But despite Google's efforts to optimize Android on Chrome OS, a lot of games are still incompatible with keyboard and mouse input — simply because the developers built them for phones and tablets. So if your Chromebook lacks a touchscreen, you've been out of luck. Thankfully, it looks like that may soon change.
Google's built-in price tracking for Chrome is inching closer to reality
It helps make shopping products at their lowest price much easier
It's no secret that we're constantly looking for ways to save our hard-earned cash when we purchase things. While there are plenty of resources to help us hunt for deals, it still requires a bit of work on our end to find the best prices. Thankfully, Google has been working to bring a price tracker to Chrome for Android, and with a future update, it could be even easier to find products at their best prices.
Google is adding a document scanner to the Chrome OS Camera app
Don't have a scanner at home? Use your Chromebook
The demand for flatbed scanners has been soaring ever since many of us started working from home because of the global pandemic. If you don't have access to that kind of hardware, being asked to sign and send a document might seem like an impossible task. Thankfully, the Chromebook you're using right now could soon double as a scanner.
It's about damn time: Your Chromebook will finally let you sort your apps in the launcher
After ignoring user feedback for years
It's no secret that your Chromebook's app launcher could use a serious user experience overhaul. As it is today, Chrome OS is devoid of any method of sorting your apps, meaning all rearrangement of your apps has to be done by hand, and it creates new pages in the launcher seemingly at random. The end result is an unusable mess, making it frustrating to find your important apps unless you use the search bar. After years of neglecting user feedback, it seems Google is finally doing something about it.
Chrome is about to be more forgiving with accidentally closing your tabs
An upcoming Chrome change instantly loads recently closed tabs
We've all made that annoying mistake of accidentally closing our Chrome browser tabs and windows. It's especially a hassle to wait for Chrome to reload them — it takes even longer depending on your network and how heavy the webpages are. Accidental closers won't have to grieve much longer, as Google is working on a nifty "magic trick" to remove the time spent waiting for Chrome to reload your tabs.
Chromebook tablet multitasking will soon be less janky
Much-needed performance optimizations are on the way
Anyone with a Chromebook knows its tablet mode experience could definitely use a ton of work. As things are now, it's frustrating to multitask with side-by-side windows: dragging the window divider causes severe UI lag, screen tearing, and flashes, even on a high-end machine. Worse, the sluggish performance has been around for years — it's a contributing reason to why Google stopped pursing tablet devices. And despite the massive amount of media backlash, it's received nearly zero developer attention, leaving a broken experience behind. Yet now there's hope that story may finally change soon.
Multitasking on Chrome OS with an external keyboard will soon be even easier
You won't have to guess which function key opens Overview mode
Let's be honest: it's outright frustrating to remember which function key on your external keyboard activates each Chrome OS feature, especially when you're trying to get work done. That's because Google designed these functions around its own keyboard layout, which has symbols that illustrate what they do. Google eases the friction a bit by including a shortcut on the taskbar to launch overview mode, but for now, it shows up only when connecting a keyboard to a Chrome tablet. That may soon change, as Google is working to make Chrome OS more user-friendly with any keyboard.
Chromebooks will finally get usable native screen recording soon
But you'll need to wait until Chrome OS 93 to get it
Chromebooks have had a long history of lackluster screen recording software — most requiring an expensive subscription to unlock essential features. It was just a few updates ago that Google added a native solution for Chrome OS, sporting a fancy capture bar that's intuitive to use. While the upgraded screen capture experience is a welcomed change — especially tablet users — the screen recorder component is unusable for long recordings. You aren't able to seek through your captures unless you convert the WebM format into something else like for lectures. You won't have to wait much longer, as Google is finally making its screen recorder usable.
Chrome OS will work better with all monitor orientations soon
Because its existing window management made zero sense with one
Computer monitors have been growing up over the years. Once small-screened and bulky, the monitors of today are larger and wider — perfect for multi-window productivity. Some displays can even rotate to a vertical portrait orientation, allowing coders and photo editors to see more of their content. One drawback of going vertical is the lackluster multi-window experience — and Chrome OS does nothing to fix this (except in tablet mode). As it is, you can only dock windows to the left or right side of the screen, resulting in a squished mess. Your multitasking nightmares may soon be over, as Google's been working on some critical changes to how Chrome OS works with vertical monitors.
Chromebooks could be getting custom key shortcuts
A new flag has popped up that has us scratching our heads
Chromebook keyboards have always been frustrating to use for anyone coming from another platform because quite a few things are switched around. The Caps Lock position is taken over by the Search key (or "Everything button") while there's either no key between Ctrl and Alt or (on Pixelbooks) a Google Assistant shortcut. To make matters worse, Google is looking into changing a few keyboard shortcuts going forward, which probably won't help those of us who just got used to Chrome OS' peculiar shortcuts. Luckily, Google might soon allow you to customize some shortcuts.
Biometric authentication is nothing new for laptops. However, no Chromebook, even Google's flagship Pixelbook, has ever had a fingerprint sensor or facial recognition. Sure, you could use your phone's fingerprint sensor via Smart Lock, but that's just not the same. A commit for face unlock was discovered on Chromium Gerrit just a few days ago, and now, one for fingerprint sensors has been spotted as well.
Back in February, a commit to the Chromium Gerrit revealed that "secret" 4K Chromebooks were in the pipeline. The comment attached to the commit, at the time, seemed like just a wink and a nod to the future possibility, but it appears there may be a specific name attached to Chrome OS' 4K future. "Atlas" is the codename for a 4K-equipped board recently discovered in a file on Google's Chromium Git.
The Pixelbook sports a 12.3" 2400x1600 display, and nobody's complaining about it. In fact, we even praised it in our review for being nice in basically every aspect. But companies are constantly seeking to cram more and more pixels into their devices' screens, and Google is no different. According to a recent Chrome OS commit, we'll be seeing 4K displays on Chromebooks in the near future.
A couple of devices these days support HDR, though not many apps do. YouTube, Netflix, and Google Play Movies are among those apps that can handle HDR playback, and one more may soon be joining them: Chrome. This information comes courtesy of two commits that were recently spotted on Chromium Gerrit.