Chrome OS gains 14 new animated account images as Google also launches ‘Illustrations’

A new set of 14 animated account images have been added to Chrome OS Canary so that Chromebook users can spiff up their login screen once more. It’s been a long while since Google introduced animated images in the Personalization section of the Settings app, but since then, they’ve not added any new ones for fans of these colorful and playful additions to the OS.

In the video below, I’ll pan through them for you so you can see what’s available just in case you are running Beta or Stable and don’t have the update yet. All of them appear to have a high level of diversity. In addition to the video, I’ll describe them below.

• An elderly woman watering a plant
• A writer thinking about his next lines
• A lover with a boquet of flowers watching a bee swarm around his head
• Cats working from home on their computer with their human in the way
• A graphitti artist painting a masterpiece
• Someone dancing (or doing Yoga?) in the park
• A deaf or hard of hearing woman saying ‘Thank You’ in ASL
• A blind or visually impaired man drinking coffee
• An assistance dog awkwardly staring at dropped ice cream
• A front line medical worker taking notes on a pad
• A guy using a VR headset (Though probably not Google Daydream)
• A book worm…literaturelly
• A marathon biker or delivery guy
• An Eskimo seeing snow fall in front of his face
• A woman using a megaphone to give moral support

Yesterday, ‘Google Illustrations’ became available via the Gmail app for Android and allows users could do exactly the same thing but with a twist. Illustrations are also focused on diversity and inclusion. They’re also editable, and you can choose from a growing collection of pre-made graphics and even combine them together to make them unique to you. Google says that it will bring this to more of its products in the future like iOS and the web.

We all have different tastes and preferences. Whether you are a cat person, a foodie, or an avid traveler, we’ve got you covered. Try searching for a place in your home country, a hobby you share with your friends, an animal or mythical creature that you like.

The Keyword

I see these two seemingly unconnected events and can’t help but think that the reason we’re getting new animated profile images now of all times on Chrome OS is that the company is re-evaluating its approach to personalization across all of its services. Though not animated, I can see the Google Illustrations editor coming to the Personalization tools on Chromebooks in time, especially since it’s stated to be expanding its availability soon.

Allowing everyone with a Chromebook to make their own profile picture without even having to turn on their camera is a big win for the fun, whimsical, and personal nature of Chromebooks. Would you like Google Illustrations to become available on your laptop so that your lock screen feels uniquely yours, or are you happy with these 14 new animated claymation-style graphics?