Samit Sarkar, Google’s head of Android ecosystems, lately confirmed that Android and ChromeOS will be merged into a single platform, reigniting a slew of questions on the way forward for the working methods. Combining them is smart. It made sense manner again in 2013, and it was first imagined to occur back in 2015, however till lately, that largely simply amounted to Chromebooks having the ability to run Android apps. Final yr, Google introduced that ChromeOS would be built on the Android tech stack, together with the Android kernel.
What’s the level of merging ChromeOS and Android?
Android has an infinite app ecosystem, however a lot of these apps nonetheless wrestle on bigger screens, like tablets. And Android doesn’t have nice multitasking or window administration, that are each necessary on giant shows. ChromeOS, alternatively, does browser stuff and window administration very well, however doesn’t actually help non-web apps.
Chromebooks have been capable of run Android apps for a long time, which helps fill a few of the compatibility gaps. However these apps usually suck to make use of on a laptop computer with a mouse cursor. Some apps are too small and don’t adapt to working on an even bigger display screen; the Android Slack app can’t present two threads side-by-side on a Chromebook just like the desktop app can. And a few are simply wonky, like Discord not all the time responding to mouse clicks. Spotify works tremendous, however its cellular app seems to be just a little sparse on a big laptop computer display screen, and you need to keep in mind to click on and maintain as an alternative of utilizing secondary clicks (which simply feels unnatural on a trackpad or mouse).
This convergence was already taking place anyway: the Chrome browser on Android is getting extensions — a key benefit of desktop Chrome. Android can be getting a Dex-like desktop mode, and as a part of that, Google is making a big push for adaptive apps in Android 16. Making Android apps work nicely in desktop mode is already part of optimizing them for ChromeOS. When Android has a desktop mode and Chrome with extensions, and Chromebooks can run Android apps, is there any cause to maintain them separate? A unified OS would speed up development time for both phone and laptop kind components, and make it simpler for builders to fill in that center floor the place tablets stay.
Why did this take so lengthy?
Discuss of a unified Android and ChromeOS has been occurring for well over 10 years. It’s appeared just like the logical subsequent step for each of Google’s working methods, but it by no means made a lot headway. There was hypothesis for some time that Google’s experimental open-source Fuchsia OS is perhaps that unified platform, however after years of rumors, teases, and job postings — it ended up on some Nest Hubs.
A part of it’s absolutely that Arm chips are lastly quick sufficient for laptops. Arm-based Chromebooks aren’t new (there was a Samsung one back in 2012), however till very lately, good Chromebooks got here with Intel Core i3 and i5 processors. The MediaTek Kompanio Extremely 910 chip within the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 (Google’s new flagship) is highly effective sufficient to outclass the x86 chips in different Chromebooks, and with higher battery life. Chromebooks with Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors — the chips powering the resurgence of Windows on Arm — are additionally anticipated quickly.
With each Android telephones and Chromebooks working on Arm, specializing in a single structure ought to permit for a lot simpler optimization throughout this potential new OS. And when you already personal an x86-based Chromebook you must hopefully get the remaining years of software program help that Google promised — as a lot as 10 years in some instances.
Not like Microsoft and even Apple throughout their transitions to Arm, Google doesn’t have a large library of x86-compatible ChromeOS apps to fret about porting over.
Will all Chromebooks develop into big Android tablets? Will all Android telephones be pocket-size, dockable Chromebooks?
As talked about above, Google is already testing a desktop mode for Android telephones. I’ve by no means used Samsung’s DeX, however the idea of docking your telephone and getting a full featured desktop expertise is interesting. If that’s the least of what we get from this merge, it might be nifty. However higher desktop mode for Android has different implications. Think about a 2-in-1 removable working this mixed OS. Like a Pixel C, however good.
Will ChromeOS change its look to align with Materials Three Expressive?
ChromeOS has a reasonably buttoned-up aesthetic primarily based off of Google’s older Materials Design, whereas Android is being revamped with the younger and colourful Material Three Expressive. Who wins this UI battle?
I wouldn’t thoughts seeing ChromeOS get just a little extra enjoyable and joyful. It might make for an attention-grabbing distinction with Home windows 11 and macOS. Simply give me customization choices, please.
Will both Android or ChromeOS be rebranded?
Each Chrome and Android are massive names. Unifying them beneath one new title may threat complicated the typical consumer. I’d enterprise that the Android and ChromeOS manufacturers will stay intact. Maybe they’ll as an alternative fall beneath some convoluted umbrella model.
As my colleague Nathan Edwards quipped to me, “It’ll most likely be one thing like ‘Chromebook, powered by Android’ or ‘Android with ChromeOS.’” One thing that makes the product managers joyful and confuses all of us when we have now to learn a product title like Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 999 with ChromeOS powered by Android.
Is that this lastly what makes Android tablets good? For actual, this time?
So far as Android tablets have come (which, let’s be trustworthy, isn’t really that far), this future OS can solely make them higher. But it surely’s nonetheless going to take effort and dedication from app builders. Google is trying to help bridge that gap, however devs nonetheless need to care sufficient and discover it lucrative enough to place within the work.