Developer tools and highlights from Google I/O 2022

From powerful devices to a fast and secure OS, we’re all about empowering users and developers to keep growing. People, businesses, and schools around the world are using ChromeOS to thrive across all areas of their lives — and we’ve got our sights set on helping even more users excel.

To help you keep creating experiences that users love, we’ve continued to launch helpful tools, devices, technical guidance, and features over the past year. At Google I/O 2022⁠⁠, we took a spin through our latest updates and spotlighted brands that have partnered with us to build and optimize apps for ChromeOS.

Let’s dive into a roundup of what’s new and where we’re headed.

Empowering users, schools, and businesses around the world

ChromeOS has been helping students and educators in classrooms for a long time. Now that hybrid learning has become the norm, we’ve been finding new ways to support learning and teaching both in and outside the classroom. Today, Chromebooks are the No. 1 device in K-12 education globally ^[1]. And 50 million students and educators are using Chromebooks to explore everything from 3D modeling to video editing ^[2]. More businesses are also finding new ways to grow with ChromeOS — so much so that monthly active enterprise users increased by 20% throughout 2021 ^[3]. To help businesses stay connected to their teams and customers, we’re focused on bringing tailored solutions and worry-free management to even more industries.

For instance, we launched a fully-integrated contact center solution⁠⁠ last year. We’re also currently working on features that’ll empower health care professionals to provide more timely patient care in a privacy-safe way.

As technology becomes increasingly intertwined with learning and working, more people are looking for digital solutions that make their to-dos easier. That’s why we’re thrilled to share that you can now find tailored developer guidance for building classroom tools and enterprise solutions on ChromeOS.dev.

You can now find tailored developer guidance for building classroom tools and enterprise solutions on ChromeOS.dev.

We also expanded our product suite to give you a stronger, more capable foundation for building everything from note-taking apps to fantasy games. Out of our new devices, the HP Elite Dragonfly in particular is a powerhouse for developers. It supports docks, external displays, and styluses — all while running Android Studio faster than ever.

We’ve already got even more exciting devices in the works, including the Asus CX5. We’ll be launching more than 75 new Chromebook models this year — so you’ll soon have even more powerful and secure devices to build on and more opportunities to reach a wider audience.

Unlocking more seamless app experiences

People are using more devices every day — from smartphones and TVs to laptops and hearables. Just three years ago, one person in the U.S. had an average of eight networked devices ^[4]. That number’s expected to reach 14 by the end of this year ^[5].

Using multiple devices at the same time or jumping from one to another is a normal part of our lives. In Q1 2022 alone, there were 270 million active Android users across ChromeOS, tablets, and foldables ^[6]. So we’ve got some features in the works that’ll make our hardware and software work even better together, including the following:

• Camera Roll: Pull up recent photos from Android phones on your Chromebook’s PhoneHub
• Communication app streaming: Stream chat apps from phones running Android 13 or higher on all Chromebooks

Consistent app experiences are a critical part of making devices work better together. That’s especially important to us as we’ve seen app usage on ChromeOS gain more popularity.

Bringing top apps across platforms together is key to ensuring people have the best experience possible. That’s why we’ve supported Android, web, and Linux apps for years — and we’re constantly looking for ways to help developers across app platforms build better experiences on and for ChromeOS.

As people use more devices, they’ll want to easily enjoy their favorite apps and games on all of them. To help you keep up with people’s expectations, we’re making it easier for you to get your apps discovered and deliver consistent experiences with features such as:

• An upcoming app discovery surface: A new surface complementing Google Play will curate a collection of top Chromebook apps across app platforms
• ChromeOS launcher improvements: The launcher no longer takes up the full screen and will soon support search for Cloud and Play games
• Full Restore: This feature restores both Android and web apps after reboot
• File handling: Users can already open files with preferred Android apps, and soon they’ll be able to do the same with web apps
• Cloud storage integration: Users will be able to back up local files to their preferred cloud storage provider in 2022

These updates will come in handy when you’re scaling across devices, and we’re already cooking up more easier-to-use tools you can keep in your back pocket.

Celebrating developer innovation on ChromeOS

None of our growth would’ve been possible without developers like you who drive and inspire us. We’re thrilled by how many more Android and web developers have built captivating experiences for ChromeOS users in the past year. Thanks to our global developer community, people can find an app for just about anything on ChromeOS — whether they’re looking to unwind with their favorite shows, explore games, or chat with friends and family.

Here’s how a few top brands have built and tailored experiences for ChromeOS:

• TikTok: Published a PWA in Google Play to reach desktop users and optimized its Android app for large-screen devices to make it easier to create and share content
• Krita: Built a desktop-optimized Android app from scratch and tailored the look, feel, and functionality for ChromeOS
• Lumafusion: Has been creating a powerful multi-track video editing experience on Android optimized for large screens and ChromeOS that will launch soon
• Webex by Cisco: Delivered a more delightful and engaging collaboration experience for users on ChromeOS devices with a new Webex Meetings PWA⁠⁠
• 8x8: Implemented a new WebRTC telephony and analytics solution optimized for ChromeOS and integrated ChromeOS user presence to the 8x8 engine

We’re excited to see how developers have been enhancing their apps and games for ChromeOS users. And we can’t wait to see what you create this year as we continue launching new tools, tips, and technical guidance.

Shape the future of apps and games

Thanks to our developer community, we’ve had another incredible year of growth across our devices and software. We’re continuing to reach everyday consumers, schools, and businesses around the world and connecting them to the great experiences you’re building — and (just like you) we have no plans of slowing down.

So keep exploring, experimenting, and delighting millions of engaged ChromeOS users who have a big appetite for innovative apps and games. We’ll be here along the way sharing inspiration and product updates on ChromeOS.dev.

To keep up with the latest, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll keep you in the loop as we continue making ChromeOS a better, faster, and more secure platform — just like we always have.