Chromebooks getting a new ‘Focus Mode’ that is mostly working in Canary

Thanks to a bit of digging and testing by our friend @cr_c2cv over on X, we’ve been made aware of a new feature currently in testing for Chromebooks in the latest Canary Channel build of ChromeOS 122 simply called Focus Mode. As the name implies, it seems the feature is here to help ChromeOS users focus in on tasks at hand and get things done in a more timely manner.

@robby_payne @michaelperrigo @joehum @chromeunboxed @NexusBen @9to5Google
FIRST LOOK: Google is improving ChromeOS yet again with Focus Mode!
It has a deep integration with Google Tasks and it is similar to how Focus Apps work using the pomodoro techniquehttps://t.co/IKqxhZBhwo pic.twitter.com/hfrhDdvAvn

— C2 Productions (@cr_c2cv) December 15, 2023

As you can see in @cr_c2cv’s post, the new feature looks to be integrated into the Quick Settings panel and at the click of a button, users will have a small Focus Mode dashboard that does a few simple things for now to get you honed in on your latest task.

From the looks of it, you’ll be able to set a timer for your session and see your integrated Google Tasks as well. How this will work with or replace the Google Tasks widget that has been tested to work with the Google Calendar widget in the ChromeOS shelf is yet to be seen, but this new Focus Mode will clearly allow for users to see and check-off tasks during a session.

For now, a do-not-disturb toggle is also included and hopefully some app restrictions will also follow, but that isn’t part of the package just yet. As @cr_c2cv mentions in his post, the feature is still a bit flaky and with this being in Canary, we should expect a bit of volatility with it for the time being.

As with most things in Canary, it’s really best to let those comfortable with this unstable channel do the digging and rest assured that these features are being worked on for now. For most users, even the coolest upcoming features aren’t worth the daily headache of operating in the Canary Channel, but I’ll at least drop the link here if you really, really want to go down that path. Again, I’d recommend just waiting a bit if Focus Mode sounds like something you’d like to have on your Chromebook. Hopefully it arrives soon.