5 Awesome ChromeOS Flags That Are Now Built In
Have you ever tried experimental features in Chromeos? I lived on the experimental branch, but lately, I have just taken advantage of the stable branch, mainly because Google has launched many features that required flags in the main operating system.
With an appropriate calendar view of personalized keyboard shortcuts, Chromeos has matured a lot in recent years. Here are five impressive features of chromeos that required experimental flags which are now available as part of the basic chrome operating system.
5
Floating and captive window system
Once requiring two flags to activate, Chromeos now supports floating and snacking windows.
It seems to be a simple thing, right? You might even think that Chromeos has always supported floating windows, and she didn’t do that. With the new floating Windows update that has been released in recent years, you can now pin a window to float always over the top of the window icon at the top right of any open program.
I honestly wish that other operating systems like MacOS and Windows had an easy way to float a window on top, because it is something that could be super useful in various circumstances. Anyway, Chromeos is now doing it natively.
In the same update, the Chromeos team has introduced a window system that looks like Windows 11 window management tools (it’s a lot of windows!).
This allows you not only to slide a window to the left or right and make it heard to take half of the screen, but there are also more options by flying over the window icon at the top right of the screen. In other words, you can break a window in full screen, partial screen or half screen in one click.
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4
Calendar view in the system tray
It is difficult to imagine that there was a time before a calendar view is available in the Chromeos system, but that is the truth. You had to trigger at least one (if not multiple) of experimental flags to obtain a calendar in the system.
NOW? That’s right, sitting where it should always have been. By clicking on the date at the bottom right of your screen, will open a complete monthly calendar view so you can see the whole month at the same time.
By clicking on a date, you will display everything in your Google calendar for this day, and above the calendar, your Google task lists can easily check things. It is a major productivity hack for Chromeos, and it is pleasant to see it included by default instead of requiring flags to take advantage of them.
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3
Personalized keyboard shortcuts
Similar to the view of the system platform calendar, it is difficult for me to believe that there was a time that Chromeos had no personalized keyboard shortcuts. However, this feature only reached traditional chromeos in 2024.
Until the 2024 update, you could not personalize keyboard shortcuts in Chromeos. Instead, you just had to learn specific chrome shortcuts, and there was no other option. You can now customize keyboard shortcuts that fulfill different functions.
This is an excellent update, because it allows you to program Chromeos to work more like MacOS or Windows, depending on the operating system that you know more.
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The Chromeos 123 update also adds the connection of hotspot for LTE 4G chromebooks.
2
Partial divided window arrangement
As part of the window update, Chromeos obtained partial divided window provisions. This allows you to quickly take a window in half the screen. Made by dragging a window to the left or right of the screen (or using the keyboard shortcut Alt +]or[)thisFunctionalityiscrucialepourdéplaceloutéléléléléDerfoLeSfichiers[)Thisfunctionalityiscrucialtomovingoruploadfileseasily[)cettefonctionnalitéestcrucialepourdéplaceroutéléchargerfacilementdesfichiers[)thisfunctionalityiscrucialtomovingoruploadingfileseasily
Personally, I mainly use the window function divided during the drag and deleting files from one folder to another, or from the file browser to an online service where I download them. However, there are a number of other reasons to use this type of click function.
For example, you can break Google Docs on one side and a chrome tab on the other side for search and writing purposes. Or, you could have youtube open on half of the screen and facebook on the other. The possibilities are endless, and it is great that Google finally made the partial arrangements of window divided easily possible in Chromeos.
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1
Android App Streaming from your phone
Although the streaming of Android applications on your phone to your Chromebook is a more limited feature, it is now an official part of Chromeos. It required experimental flags, but is now cooked in the main operating system.
The Phone HUB on Chromeos connects your Android device to your Chromebook via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, allowing many features. One of these features is Android App streaming.
Although modern chromebooks can run most of the Android applications natively, there are still some that are available on Android phones exclusively and not on Chromebook. If you have a supported smartphone (a Pixel 4 or more recent, nothing (1) or (2), or a Xiaomi 12T, 12T Pro, 13 or 13 pro), you can broadcast applications directly from your Chromebook phone.
This function is definitely more niche and not as useful as others on this list, but it is always something that was only experimental and is now part of Chromeos natively.
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After trying these features, why not consult these nine power user tips that you should fully use? Linux is the node of many power user features on ChromeBooks, and it is great that you can now install Linux applications on Google laptops.
Do not forget virtual desktop computers in Chromeos. This feature is not new at all, but it is a crucial part of any productivity configuration, and you should certainly try if you have not done so before.
