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At Google I/O back in May, developers announced Andriod Studio support for Chrome OS. Still in Beta at the time, the widely used developer’s tool lacked a number of features found on the desktop alternatives but that is on longer the case. As of August, Android Studio now has full Chrome OS support in the stable build and can run on most devices that have access to Linux apps, a.k.a Crostini.
Apart from the added support for Chromebooks, the latest version of Android Studio focuses mainly on performance and stability as a result of the ongoing Project Marble that targeted issues such as memory leaks, bugs and IDE hangs. These issues, along with others, have been major pain points for developers which is why Google decided to spend the past few months with their attentions turned to making the Android Studio experience more “polished” as opposed to adding a ton of new features.
What’s new in Android Studio 3.5?
While Android Studio should theoretically run on any Linux-enabled Chrome device, Google recommends 8GB of RAM. (Can we just make 8GB the standard for Chrome OS? I mean, seriously.) They also suggest having a device that uses a U-series Kaby Lake processor but I imagine a number of the more powerful Pentium and Y-series chips should handle the IDE just fine. Here’s a list a devices Android Developers would recommend for using Android Studio.
- Acer: Chromebook 13/Spin 13, Chromebox CXI3
- Lenovo: Yoga C630 Chromebook
- HP: Chromebook x360 14, Chromebox G2
- Dell: Inspiron Chromebook 14
- ASUS: Chromebox 3
- ViewSonic: NMP660 Chromebox
- CTL: Chromebox CBx1
Oddly enough, two of the Chromeboxes on the list are U-series but nowhere near the Core i5 processor recommended by developers. We have an ASUS Celeron Chromebox in the office and I’ll be testing out Android Studio on it this week. Stay tuned for a quick review. If it works well, the Chromebox 3 could be a very inexpensive way to get up and running with Android Studio.
You can download the Debian package for Android Studio at the link below. Once you’ve enabled Linux apps on your device, simply double-click the .deb file and wait for the install process to complete.
Download Android Studio for Chrome OS
Learn more about Project Marble and Android Studio 3.5 at the Android Developer’s blog.
