The Chrome OS department achieved a huge milestone in updating their most recent OS 87.0.4280.152 to OS 88.0.4324.109. In simpler words, the much awaited Chrome OS 88 is finally here and let’s check out what it brings for the Chrome users.
As with every big and new update brings out substantial changes providing a large variety of new features like security enhancements in order to improve the Chrome OS 88 user experience. There are almost around 19,000 changes and updates in total in this recent release.
Each and every user should be able to access and enjoy their time working with the devices. Assistive technology allows people with special needS or disabilities to use their devices as easily as possible.
Screen Magnifier: It allows you to magnify your screen with just a few simple touches on your keyboard. To try it out, enable full-screen magnifier toggle in the Accessibility section of the device settings and then press Ctrl+Alt and arrow keys.
Screen Saver: Transformation of the Chromebooks lockscreen into a personalized smart display is very easily possible in the recent version of Chrome OS 88. This feature plays a slideshow of the favourite photo album of its user from Google Photos or hundreds of Chromecast backgrounds.
Beautify Lockscreen: It even offers a glanceable clock and weather widget, a label to the current music and a media controller for the easier pause and skip of music by the user without unlocking the device. Customization of the lockscreen needed to be started by opening the device settings and click screen saver from the personalization category.
Changing Light and Dark Mode: Switching between light and dark themes is easily possible directly and in a much faster way by going in the Quick settings of the device without restarting the Chrome book. This change was introduced only a few days ago as it is quite noticeable that the plan was always a quick switch without the need of device restarting.
It seems to be a quite common situation for Chromebooks to get a light theme but not a dark one as most of the user interface programs in Chrome OS are already dark. So it seems like Google is not just adding the choice between two modes but rather making each of them have a more cohesive look.
Faster Sign-In: People are always finding new ways to use the Chromebooks as seamlessly as possible. With the latest release of Chrome OS 88, faster sign-in experience along with the personalized lock screens has been introduced. The device is developed to sign-in securely for the user to websites with PIN or fingerprint set up to unlock the device with the new Web Authentication feature. Every website supporting Web Authentication will let the user use the Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID.
Password Change: Changing credentials for a website, Google then prompts the user to update that password the next time it gets entered. It is now allowing users to manually change the password by “Edit Password” from the central list on Chrome settings in the passwords section. This feature is available from the overflow menu.
This feature now lets the user generate a list of accounts with weak credentials by just a single tap on “Check Password”. Google also reveals that the recent release’s Safety Check feature, used for identification of breaches, is used 14 million times per week and it has successfully reduced a 37% in the compromised credentials stored in the browser.
Easier Tab Search: Even though Chrome 87 brought a handy Tab Search feature to Chromebooks, it was not for the user. Being as helpful as usual, Chrome OS 88 brings it all the needed platforms via Chrome flag. When it’s enabled, the user gets a drop-down arrow in the top tab bar showing all the open tabs when selected. The search bar on it can also be used to search the tab the user is looking for.
Hence, the Chrome OS 88 is a noticeably developed and improved version from the last version. It’s more user friendly than ever and definitely worth a try if your demand is an extremely attractive device with the maximum user-friendly option on hand.
If you are interested in knowing more about Chromebooks, then you can read our blog on A Useful Guide On How To Take Screenshots On Chromebook.
