Developers working on a “Diagnostics App” for Chrome OS

Diagnosing system health on Chrome OS may get a little easier with a new update that could be headed our way. As it sits, getting support for your device boils down to one of two worthwhile methods. The first method is to head over to the official Chromebook Support Forum to see if the community of well-versed volunteers can assist you with your particular Chrome OS issue. The alternative is to use the in-built Chrome OS feedback option. You can use this method by pressing Alt+Shift+i on your keyboard and describing, in detail, the problem you’re having with your device. When you send your feedback, it will travel to developers with any necessary system information, diagnostics and screenshots, if you include them.

The problem with submitting feedback is that you aren’t going receive any direct assistance with your problem. The feedback option is geared specifically for giving developers information needed to address and fix bugs in the Chrome OS software. So, don’t expect an email back if you’re simply trying to figure out why you Chromebook won’t find your new printer you just set up. That’s not what feedback is for. For those kind of issues, you’ll need to refer to the aforementioned support forum or perhaps a site like ours.

For many of us that grew up on “other” operating systems, we’re accustomed to a certain level built in diagnostics to aide and assist in pinpointing technical issues. Chrome OS has a “task manager” but apart from being able to identify and terminate processes, it does little else. A new commit in the Chromium repository is looking to change that fact. The feature flag hit my device today after an update to Chrome OS 87 in the Canary channel and is listed simply as “Diagnostic App.” So, what does it do? For now, nothing. It is, as the commit states, a skeleton framework for the system web app that will come along in a future update. However, the description of the Diagnostic App gives us a good idea of what it will do.

Enables the Diagnostics app that allows Chrome OS users to be able to
view their system telemetric information and run diagnostic tests for
their device.

Diagnostic App description

Unlike the Chrome OS task manager, the Diagnostic App will allow users to view system information as well as run specific diagnostic tests that have yet to be identified. There is mention of battery health in one of the commits. There could very well be a test to replace the little-known battery test that lives inside the crosh terminal that outputs battery health as a percentage along with discharge rate and current battery level. A system web application for device diagnostics would be a much more user-friendly and visible way to get these sort of tools in the hands of general consumers. I would presume that this new app will also give users device-specific information that is currently difficult to find in the front-facing UI of Chrome OS. It would be great if the Diagnostic App shows real-time resource usage and system temperatures like the third-party Chrome app Cog. For now, we can only speculate as to what all the Diagnostic App will do but you can bet I’ll be checking with every update to the Canary channel.

Source: Chromium Repository