Merging Android features.
Google released its latest August 2019 update for Chrome OS on Thursday, featuring improved notification management and a new camera app.
The tweaked notification panel can now display Google Play Store app notifications, and has better notification management with the ability to ‘Clear all’ notifications with the touch of one button, just like on its Android mobile operating system.
Additionally, the panel shows media controls for all active apps that are emitting audio, including Google Play apps and each individual Google Chrome web browser tab, with play/pause, rewind and forward toggles.
The media playback cards also contain thumbnail previews and matches the background and text accordingly, as seen on Android.
The usual device buttons (i.e. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, do not disturb, power off, etc.) remain at the bottom, clearly delineated with a grey background and distinct spacing from notifications.
Chrome OS devices also gain an improved camera app, which mimics the Google Camera experience found on Android smartphones, with an updated interface for navigating between modes.
The tech giant says that Portrait mode (the function that creates a bokeh of subjects) is now available on the Google Pixel Slate device and are ‘working on bringing it to other Chromebooks’.
The square mode is also added, and photos are directly saved into the Downloads folder.
The new camera app works in both tablet and laptop mode.
The August 2019 Chrome OS update is rolling out now; the Mountain View firm claims that it updates the software every six weeks with feature and security fixes and all happens in the background.
The Connected by Henry Man 