A new ChromeOS update brings a touch of Windows 11 to Chromebooks

Google is rolling out ChromeOS 128 to all supported Chromebooks, introducing new features and several quality-of-life changes. 

One of the more notable updates is Snap Groups, which behaves very similarly to Snap Layouts on Windows 11. It lets users pair two separate windows on ChromeOS together for a split-screen view. These windows can be individually resized, moved together as a group, or split apart at any time.

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Second, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is being implemented into the Camera app. With OCR, Chromebooks can “see” text from a piece of paper in front of the lens. The feature also supports searching for words in images, reading documents out loud, and more. Everything in OCR is made possible through the power of machine learning. 

The company states OCR can read pages in horizontal and vertical orientations, so no need to flip papers around. This early version of OCR “supports 77 languages” and is disabled by default. You can turn it on by going to the Settings menu and selecting “Text detection in preview”. 

Another notable update is that the Magnifier tool will now work with ChromeVox. ChromeVox, if you’re not familiar with it, is the system’s built-in screen reader for people who are blind and visually impaired. 

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Magnifier follows the screen-reading process, so a user never loses their place. Similar to OCR, Magnifier is off by default. Pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and Brightness Up keys lets you zoom in on the text. Hitting Brightness Down lets you zoom out.

For sound, ChromeOS 128 is making Audio Gain Control a new default setting for Chromebooks. This tool optimizes “microphone volume” automatically in video-calling apps. When Audio Gain Control is active, Google states a message will appear in the Quick Settings panel telling users if the “microphone gain slider is being overridden”. 

Finally, ChromeOS 128’s last major update simplifies privacy controls for cameras and microphones. Prior to the update, you had to go to two locations on the laptop to give permissions to both types of devices. Moving forward, permissions for individual software can be found in the Apps section inside the Settings menu.

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Chromebooks automatically check for updates as they come in from Google. Once you receive the notification, select “Restart to Update” in the small window that appears. If you prefer checking yourself, open the Status Bar in the bottom right corner of the screen and click the Settings menu, which has a gear icon.

Click “About ChromeOS” in the bottom left corner and select “Check for updates” on the following page. If a patch is available, installation begins automatically. Restart your laptop and you’re good to go.