Benchmark signals Android 11 may arrive on Chromebooks as soon as it launches for phones

While it feels like an eternity ago that we talked about Android 11 coming to Chrome OS via the new method of ARCVM versus the current ARC++ container we currently have, in reality it has only been about 5 months since that all surfaced. You can read more about that in the original post that detailed why we believe Android 11 is headed to Chrome OS and why we believe it will come via a new, updated container called ARCVM that could go a long way towards making Android apps on Chromebooks far more seamless than it currently is.

While Chromebooks basically skipped out on Android 10 and have been stuck with Android 9 for quite some time (about a year and a half now), we’ve known testing for Android 11 has been going on for quite a bit now. Those early peeks at development of Android 11 for Chrome OS have had us quite excited that it may end up shipping for Chrome OS around the same time as it does for phones. With the early work that’s been done and the new, streamlined container coming online in ARCVM, we’ve been on the lookout for signs of Android 11 in the wild, and thanks to this sharp-eyed post on Reddit, we now have more hope than ever that Android 11 is just around the corner.

You can see in this Geekbench test for the testing board eve-arc-r that basic benchmarks are now being run to test the speed of Android in this new container, in its new version, on Chrome OS. I’d recommend you don’t get too caught up with the scores as this is clearly just a testing board based on the original Pixelbook (‘Eve’) and is likely just meant to test basic function of the new ARCVM container. After all, the processor is being listed as a placeholder running at 0Mhz.

Instead, the fact that these development boards are being tested at all gives us a clear sign that we’re moving into the later stages of Android 11 work for Chromebooks. With the amount of time the developers have been pouring into this effort, it feels highly likely that we’ll see – for the first time ever – Chromebooks getting the latest version of Android right alongside their native Android counterparts.

One final clue that we’re coming down to the final stages of all this work is the commit I came across today when searching for new info in the repositories. In this commit, there is clearly some language that I don’t fully comprehend, but there is other explanation that feels quite clear that Android 11 (arc-r or rvc) is stabilized for Chrome OS (CrOS):

cros_mark_android_as_stable: print out json metadata.

TEST=cros_mark_android_as_stable –android_build_branch=git_rvc-arc-dev \ –android_package=android-vm-rvc # prints @@@SET_BUILD_PROPERTY@android_uprev@”{\”old\”: \”6639914\”, # \”new\”: \”6710921\”, \”branch\”: \”git_rvc-arc-dev\”}”@@@

via Chromium Gerrit

Putting this together with the handful of Geekbench tests being run on eve-arc-r on Android 11 and I think you have solid signs that point to an arrival of Android 11 on Chrome OS that isn’t far off. With the influx of new devices we’re still expecting for 2020 and the absolute flurry of devices in the works that we’ll start to see early in 2021, I for one am very glad to see Android move into the limelight again. We’re all hopeful that the latest version of Android coupled with this new ARCVM delivery method will combine to deliver Android apps in a more-compatible, smoother way than ever before. With Apple at the ready to begin offering iOS and iPad OS apps on Macbooks soon, the time is now for Google to get all this aligned in the most seamless way possible.

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