Chrome OS development has really picked up in the last few months. With the Play Store on a lot of Chromebooks now, Google has been putting a lot of focus on the Android experience within Chrome OS. That means optimizing the OS for touch screens and bringing over some features from Android. We’ve seen a lot of these features show up in the Chrome OS launcher. A new commit shows that Google is making it easier to uninstall apps from the launcher.
New Shelf Option
The commit in Chromium Gerrit is simply titled “Add Uninstall option to ChromeOS shelf.” The commit includes the handy before and after screenshots shown below.
This is a small thing, but it shows how Google is polishing up the OS. Little things like this can make the overall experience much better. Currently, you can only uninstall an app from the launcher drawer or the Play Store. On Android, you can uninstall an app from the home screen. This is similar functionality for Chrome OS. Google also recently added a commit for showing previews when you hover over an app icon on the shelf.
More Android Influence
The new shelf option is just the latest in a long list of Android support/features to make their way to Chrome OS.
Android files will finally show up in the Chrome OS file browser.
It may be possible to search for Android app shortcuts directly from the launcher.
Notification Snoozing is coming to Android apps in Chrome OS.
You’ll be able to use Gboard instead of the default Chrome software keyboard.
The launcher defaults to full screen when in tablet mode.
Google is testing an Android P-style system tray.