Chrome OS 79 has arrived right on schedule and will be rolling out to eligible devices over the next few days and weeks. We expect to find some hidden gems in this release and we’ll be dissecting the update to bring you any new features or fixes that came along for the ride. As for now, this is the official update from the Google Support Forum that addresses what’s new with the update.
Lock Screen Media – Now you can control your media right from your lock screen. When you’re listening to audio on your Chromebook, you can play, pause, and skip tracks without unlocking. This new feature works with YouTube Music, Spotify, and dozens of other apps.
Mouse Acceleration Control – This feature allows you to have control over mouse acceleration. You can now manually enable or disable mouse acceleration from Settings.
About Chrome OS – Chromebooks, Chromebases, and Chromeboxes automatically manage updates to ensure your device always has the latest software and security features. Your device’s Auto Update Expiration (AUE) date details can now be found in the ‘About Chrome OS’ section in Settings.
Our Pixelbook Gos have updated to Chrome OS 79 and we’ve had a chance to test out some of the new features. As stated, the lock screen media controls work with YouTube Music and Spotify as they should with most major streaming services. The controls even work when you’re casting media from your Chromebook to another device.
As expected, your device’s End of Life (AUE) date is now listed under additional details in the About Chrome OS settings menu. This is a welcome addition as there has been a lack of information around this policy from the consumer’s perspective. Still, this requires you having a device and logging in to it. I’d love to see a future where the AUE date was actually listed on the box and online listings for Chromebooks. This would make shopping for a new device a lot more fail-safe.