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Yesterday evening Chrome OS 59 quietly started making its way to millions of Chrome devices around the world. Only today do we see the official release notes from the developers. So, we wanted to share what’s new in version 59.
Play Store
As we reported last night, a few, select devices received access to Android apps. You can read all the details about that here. We know there is still much work to be done before the Play Store sees a widespread release but we really hope that doesn’t mean waiting for Chrome OS 60.
Kiosk Features
Google is putting a lot of emphasis on Chromebooks and Chrome devices running kiosk apps for small business and consumer interactions. Two additions to kiosk mode include the ability to access network and audio APIs. This allows apps on kiosk device to access, manage and control network and audio features.
Native Printing
This one has been a long time coming. We have been watching the development of native CUPS printing in Chrome OS for quite a while and it appears it has finally made it to the Stable channel. I’ll be running some tests in the office tomorrow to see how well this much-needed addition is working.
Apart from that, there isn’t much to report. The usual undocumented security patches and bug fixes came along for the ride but Chrome OS 59 looks to be a relatively minor update in the grand scheme of things. (still excited about native printing, though)
Note: The Chrome Release blog excluded the Google Pixel 2015 from the update but we have received a report from a reader that their Samsung Chromebook Pro did not update either. We are looking into this for further evidence as to if it was excluded as well.
Source: Chrome Release Blog
