Google has been making efforts to improve the Android experience on Chromebooks, and it really looks like it's paying off. To that end, the company has announced that 50% more people are using Android apps on Chrome OS than they were just one year ago.

The metric takes into account how many Chromebook users are engaging with Android apps, and the number is clearly rising. Google shared this figure as part of a year-end developer recap, where it also reminds us that Chrome OS as a whole has grown 92% in the past year, making it the fastest-expanding platform around.

That growth is no fluke, as we've been witnessing some very deliberate efforts to improve not just Android on Chrome OS, but to encourage interest in the platform as a whole. We've seen the introduction of refinements like a feature that lets you start your phone's hotspot through your Chromebook, notification mirroring, and Photo sharing. The latter curates your shared pics in a more accessible bottom section of the Phone Hub. The company also improved the integration of Google Photos with the file manager for users who often import pictures.

Of course, we're mainly focused on Android-specific Chrome OS tweaks, and there have been plenty of those throughout the year, like locking down window size to help prevent app instability. But beyond that we've also seen other instances of crossover, like in Chrome OS 96, when Google brought the platform the same sort of MAC address randomization like we enjoy on Android. That release also included Nearby Share for easily transferring stuff with your phone or other nearby devices, and a dedicated section for enabling or disabling notifications and toggling Do-not-disturb mode. We could keep going, but you get the idea.

The year-on-year growth here is clearly the result of a lot of background work and invested resources, and Google does not look like it plans to be stopping anytime soon.