Back in May, 9to5Google’s Kyle Bradshaw uncovered evidence that Chrome OS could soon sync WIFI configurations across devices. The commit in question added a feature flag to Chrome OS which will allow WIFI sync specifically for Chrome OS and it was attached to a public CRBug thread where the ongoing work is being curated.
Add a feature flag to gate Wi-Fi sync for ChromeOS.
Original WIFI sync commit
It now appears that this feature will become an integrated part of the Chrome OS sync settings menu. According to the latest commit, a “WIFI networks” option will be added to the sync page.
Add a “Wi-Fi networks” toggle to the Sync settings page on ChromeOS.
Chromium commit
Chrome’s sync settings are a very useful tool for users living in the Google ecosystem. Sync allows users to have their personal settings such as history, bookmarks, extensions, and most importantly, passwords carry across most devices that are logged into the users Google account. This makes transitions from mobile to desktop quite handy especially if you are in the habit of using multiple Chrome on multiple devices.
It is intriguing that this feature appears to be exclusive to Chrome OS at the moment. Although, given the nature of Chrome OS, WIFI sync will be a welcome addition for users like us who handle multiple devices on a daily basis. Not to mention the fact that, as Mr. Bradshaw points out, this will eliminate a setup step for new or power washed devices. So long as your account has previously accessed a given network, you should be able to automatically connect to a synced WIFI during the out-of-box setup process.
There doesn’t appear to be any specific Chrome OS build targeted for this feature at the moment but it is listed as “priority 1” which places it relatively high on the radar. I will keep my eyes peeled with each Canary update in the hopes that we can get a ballpark of when WIFI sync could be headed our way.
