Chromebook users are now getting Android 11 features, and the update brings a host of new exciting changes once it sits in.
While Chromebook users will eventually get their hands-on Android 11 in the near feature, there’s one caveat: the features being pushed are beta-only in the meantime. 9to5Google reports that the update will bring along two exciting new features to the Chrome OS platform: dark mode and seamless app scaling.
The Android 11 for Chromebooks doesn’t revolutionize anything, but the fact that it adds two new features makes it worthwhile. As mentioned, it does include support for a dark theme, only that it will be limited.
In Chrome OS 89, the first update to bring along the new Android version, a flag is included to the Android developer options menu, through which you can enable dark theme for Android apps that are expected to adhere to the system setting.
New Android 11 Features
When enabled, it means that Chrome OS will show apps like the Play Store and Google Home app in dark mode, as pictured below. However, don’t expect this new feature to work on everything though, and in fact, it comes in the backdrop of Chrome OS itself still lacking wide dark mode support. Its progress remains to be seen, though.
In addition to dark mode feature, Android 11 on Chrome OS allows for improve in-app scaling. This is, once again, has a developer flag through which you can manually adjust the uniform scale factor for Android apps running on your Chromebook.
When you make changes using this option, you’ll notice the changes to font sizes and the general appearance of Android apps changes. While this might not be necessary for every app, it’s definitely an option we’re all excited to see Google finally tweak.
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Finally, this update is being pushed, but Android 11 is only showing up on some boards. So far, it includes the “hatch” board, that includes almost anything with a 10th-Gen Intel processor. It will be a while before all Chromebook users will have access to the new Android 11 features.
