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According to the Chrome Releases Blog, the Beta Channel of Chrome OS has now been updated to 53.0.2785.36 (Platform version: 8530.35.0). This update brings along with it a few very interesting things.
First and most important is the inclusion of the Play Store in the Beta channel! This is great news for those who were not exactly thrilled with keeping their devices in the oft-buggy developer channel. According to the post on the Chrome Releases Blog:
The Play store on Chromebooks is still in Developer Preview and some features may not work as intended.
So, take this as a bit of a warning. While the main OS is 53 in Beta, the Play Store is still considered in Developer Preview. So, likely, the same issues that were plaguing Android apps just a few days ago will still be around.
Overall, we have seen good improvement in Android Apps’ overall performance and feel confident that most of these bugs will be removed before the official rollout in September. As they’ve done with this update, however, it looks like Google is within their rights to release Chrome OS 53 to the Stable Channel while still proclaiming that the Play Store piece is still in development. I personally think this is unlikely
For the time being, the ASUS Chromebook Flip, Acer R11 and 2015 Pixel are the only supported devices. Hang tight. September is coming soon.
