Chrome OS is celebrating its 10th birthday with some new features. The desktop OS’ latest version is introducing a Phone Hub which connects the user’s Android device to their laptop and synchronizes different data between the devices. The Phone Hub’s goal is to make moving between Android and ChromeOS devices easy.
The Phone Hub shows different data from the user’s phone like its battery percentage and network reception. It also allows the user to access different phone features and settings from their Chrome OS device, such as enabling their Wi-Fi hotspot or switching to vibrate or silent modes. The different Chrome tabs opened on the user’s smartphone will also show up in this new hub.
The Phone Hub feature will work wirelessly, as long as the two devices are connected two the same Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi Sync has also been expanded so if only one of the devices has the network password, it is able to sync it with the other one.
There are also other new features introduced with the anniversary update of Chrome OS. A new Screen Capture tool is featured in the Quick Settings menu, allowing users to take precise screenshots and screen recordings without using keyboard commands. The Quick Settings menu has also added media controls and pinning files with both these tools appearing in the menu when in use.
Another new addition to Chrome OS is the ability to add a school account for children. This is managed with the company’s Family Link feature. With Family Link, a parent can automatically generate a school account for their child when signing them up to the Chrome OS device and then supervise them while they write their homework.
Other smaller improvements in the new version of Chrome OS are found in the Desks app and Select-to-speak feature.
