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Chrome OS is working to help solve your Chromebook's audio problems
No microphone or audio? A diagnostics tool is in the works
It's frustrating to deal with broken audio on your Chromebook. With much of the world relying on video calls to communicate with family, friends, and work colleagues, issues with audio input and output can be a pain to troubleshoot and threaten disrupt an otherwise productive day. But with the help of a forthcoming Chrome OS update, you might just be able to find out why your speaker or microphone isn't performing as intended.
Chrome OS is getting a new wallpaper app with Material You vibes
It's also way smoother and less broken than the old picker
Personalizing your Chromebook's desktop is key to spicing up your device with a modern, fresh look. With Google's attractive selection of stock backgrounds (that you can download here), it's easy to find a wallpaper that matches your style — as long as you don't mind dealing with its mediocre wallpaper-selection interface. For years, choosing a background has been a bit of a drag thanks to awkward sorting and confusingly poor performance. That may soon be over, as Google is rebuilding its wallpaper picker from the ground up.
Chrome OS is getting a dark theme — here's what it looks like
Quickly switch system themes with a click of a button
Dark mode has been a popular feature request among Chrome OS users for a long time. Although the OS uses a "light" theme by default, it has some random splashes of dark elements, including the launcher and the shelf. Last month, I explained in detail how bringing consistency to the current "light" theme would improve usability, but at the time, there was no information about when a true, system-wide dark mode would ship. Sure, the launcher search bar got a bit darker recently, but what people want is to turn off the lights and minimize eye strain when using their computers over extended periods. The developers at Google realized that, so they decided to do something about it.