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4 strong Chromebook features on the go with Chrome OS 94

Google is going to treat users to a number of striking novelties for Chromebooks. There are improvements for the camera app and Google is also rolling out a feature where you can continue with the apps you left off at startup. We discuss all new possibilities.

1. Select to speak

Let’s look at an improved accessibility feature first. Chromebooks already had the option to select text and have your Chromebook read it aloud. From now on, that reading voice will sound a lot more natural, so that it is also easier to understand. Before that, Google partnered with educators who specialize in teaching people with dyslexia.

The natural reading voice works in 25 languages, including Dutch. Google Netherlands informed our editors about this. The novelty is part of Chrome OS 94, Google says in a blog post. You can use the function with the key combinations: ‘search button + S’ or ‘launcher button + S’. Which one it is depends on the layout of your keyboard.


via GIPHY

2. Set a wallpaper from Google Photos

This feature makes a lot of sense, but it’s only now coming to Chrome OS. You will soon be able to set a wallpaper for your Chromebook from Google Photos. At 9To5Google, they’ve discovered a code change in Chrome OS’s Wallpapers app that indicates the Google Photos integration is on the way.

When that will be the case is not yet entirely clear. The feature may be part of the larger redesign in the Wallpapers app, which is already being tested in Chrome OS test releases. If you want to activate that new look on Chrome OS Dev, you can do that with a Chrome flag. Go to the page with your browser chrome://flags. Then search the flags page for Enable new wallpaper experience. Next to the function, choose Enabled and restart your device.

3. Improved Camera App

We have to look for another Chrome OS 94 function in the camera app. Google sees that more and more light and mobile Chrome OS devices are released and such a camera app becomes more interesting. With the new app it is possible to scan documents. The app will then automatically crop the background of the document. This works best with cameras on the back of a Chromebook and when the background color in the photo differs enough from a white paper. Google is also moving the QR code scanner to the Camera app. The changes are part of Chrome OS 94, the update rolling out in the coming days.

The document scanner in the camera app

4. Pick up where you left off

In your Chrome browser it has been possible for some time to restore your tabs after you have started your Chromebook. Google also wants to make that possible for other apps, so that you can immediately continue with, for example, Google Docs where you left off

This feature has been in development for some time, but for certain users it now works with Chrome 94. It seems that Google has made the feature more widely available. If it still doesn’t work for you, you can already activate it with a Chrome flag. We will discuss how you do that in detail in this article.

Looking for a new Chromebook? In this article, we compared four of them. Or take a look at the new line-up that Acer presented on Thursday. Have you already received the update to Chrome 94 and do you notice even more novelties in this version? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.

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