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The ChromeOS Global Media Controls have largely been marked by small changes along the way as ChromeOS has developed. At the end of the day, if you use this beneficial little part of the ChromeOS shelf, you likely know that you can quickly and easily control any media currently playing on your Chromebook from this UI. And you also know that as long as the basics are there (play, pause, skip, etc.), what it looks like isn’t the most important part of the equation.
Still, as ChromeOS continues its slow Material You overhaul, all the parts have to get in line. And though some UI overhauls won’t add much in the way of functionality (unlike the change to allow cast controls that is on the way), they do make things look far more modern and in-step with the Material You theming that is beginning to take center stage for Chromebook users.
Thanks to some digging around by C2 Productions, we have some visuals on what Google is going for with the updated UI for the Global Media Controls widget on ChromeOS. Again, while not a massive functionality update, this player looks far more modern and attractive that what we currently have, and it does so while adopting a far more Google-centric look and feel at this point in 2023.
This is obviously still in development, but I’d say we’re getting pretty close to the final product that we’ll see Google unveil in an update down the road. With the new notifications and updated Quick Settings panel, we’re edging closer and closer to a fully-revamped UI for Chromebooks, and I love the direction Google is headed, here. A more cohesive UI makes things cleaner and simpler for new users, and as more Chromebooks end up in more consumer hands, small tweaks like this one are that much more important.
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