Chromebooks could get a lock screen upgrade with Ambient Mode
Ambient Mode was unveiled by Google last year, a way to turn phones into smart speakers and smart displays, though it hasn’t made it to many handsets as yet. Now it looks as though the feature could be appearing on Chromebooks too.
New Chrome OS code spotted by XDA Developers mentions Ambient Mode by name, so the engineers behind the project are at least playing around with the idea of adding this enhanced functionality to the software.
When you’re not doing anything else with your Android phone or tablet, Ambient Mode displays useful information on the lock screen: what the weather’s going to do that day, for example, or what’s coming up on your Google Calendar schedule.
We’re assuming the functionality on Chromebooks would be somewhat similar – see key information at a glance, like details of any upcoming trips, without having to actually unlock the laptop.
More to come
Google hasn’t said anything officially about bringing Ambient Mode to Chrome OS, so we don’t know when it’s going to appear. As with any feature that’s undergoing testing, it might never see the light of day at all.
Like a lot of experimental features in Chrome and Chrome OS, if Ambient Mode does graduate to a proper part of the software, it’s likely that it’ll show up as an optional flag first of all.
Chromebooks can now run Android apps of course, and Chrome OS has regularly borrowed features from Android in the past. This could be another example of Google sharing its best software ideas out between all of the projects that it supports.
We might hear more about Ambient Mode on Chromebooks at the Google IO 2020 event, scheduled to take place from May 12-14. We’re also expecting to get our first dump of information about Android 11 at the same show, while the Pixel 4a could be unveiled too.
Ambient Mode was unveiled by Google last year, a way to turn phones into smart speakers and smart displays, though it hasn’t made it to many handsets as yet. Now it looks as though the feature could be appearing on Chromebooks too. New Chrome OS code spotted by XDA Developers…
Recent Posts
- Google Search is getting a massive upgrade – including letting you search with video
- Google Project Astra hands-on: Full of potential, but it’s going to be a while
- OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever is officially leaving
- NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, May 15 (game #73)
- Android apps will soon let you use your face to control your cursor
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011