Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
The latest ChromeOS release was a tad behind schedule this time around and while we weren’t expecting much in this update, there are some cool new features that may be of interest to you. As of today, most eligible devices should have received the update to ChromeOS 114. If you’re unsure if yours is on the list, you can check out this handy table at cros.tech to find the current version for your device. You can also head to the settings menu on your device and click the About ChromeOS tab to manually check for any updates that may not have been automatically installed. Now, let’s take a look at what’s new in ChromeOS 114.
Easy Access Emojis
Just in case you weren’t aware, you can access and use emojis in any text space by simply right-clicking and selecting the emoji option from the pop-up menu. In ChromeOS 114, you can now invoke the emoji picker by using a simple keyboard shortcut. By pressing Shift along with the Everything key and the space bar, you’ll be greeted by the floating emoji picker. The Everything is also known as the launcher key. It’s the one right about your left Shift key.
Now, I’m not a huge emoji user but I do like having access to them on the fly when I want to insert one into some text. I’m sure that there are many that use emojis on the regular and this will be a helpful little shortcut for those that do.
Proper Audio Settings
This is a relatively minor addition but it’s one that should have happened long ago. ChromeOS 114 adds a dedicated Audio Settings tab in the settings menu. In it you will find the usual input/output options, volume sliders and if you have a device equipped with it, a noise cancellation toggle.
Updated Chrome Customization
There aren’t a ton of things you can do to customize the Chrome browser when compared to the web browsers of olden days. I’m talking way back in the day when you had browsers like Neoplanet that you could install skins and make it uniquely your own. Still, Chrome has some nifty customization features that allow you to apply custom colorways as well as themes that apply to the entire browser. With 114, these customization tools are readily available in the Sidebar of Chrome where you can tweak your colors or apply an entirely new theme. If you already have a theme installed, you can switch back to Classic Chrome to access the color options. You can also access the customization feature by clicking the button on a new tab page that’s located in the bottom right corner.
Cursive preinstalled on managed devices
If you’re using a work or school device, ChromeOS 114 will now have the Cursive app preinstalled by default. The doodling and note-taking PWA has been a great, free tool for some time on the web and now it will be readily available to users on managed devices. If you already have a go-to app, you can always uninstall Cursive if your admin allows that sort of thing.
Wi-Fi Passpoint
If you are out and about a lot and frequently on various wi-fi connections, this one will certainly appeal to you. ChromeOS 114 brings Passpoint capabilities to your wi-fi. That means, when you return to a place where you have previously connected to a Passpoint-enabled service, your device should autodiscover the network and automatically connect without having you go through the connection process all over again. Learn more about the benefits of Passpoint here.
That’s it for this one folks. If you need me, I’ll be at my desk sending random emojis to people for no particular reason. Maybe I am an emoji guy. 🤷🏼♂
