Google has quietly launched a Pixel Buds PWA for Chromebooks in the Play Store

Basically by accident today, I found a new Pixel Buds PWA in the Google Play Store that looks to be meant for Chromebooks. It all started as I was sitting down to write while on this cruise ship (fall break vacation) and wanted to adjust my earbuds a bit. You may wonder why I didn’t just do this on my Pixel 8 Pro, and that would be a very good question. The answer has to do with cruise ship Wi-Fi and the single device limitation I’ve been dealing with the past few days.

Having already moved my Wi-Fi access back to my Chromebook, I had already paired up my Pixel Buds Pro to my Acer Chromebook 516 GE and simply wanted to check a couple EQ settings. This prompted me to see if the Pixel Buds app would work on my Chromebook since I haven’t checked on that in quite some time. And much to my surprise, I found the app in the Play Store, installed it, and didn’t run into any incompatibility warnings along the way.

However, once I opened the app, I was met with a 404 error and I was immediately confused. However, a quick look at the app itself made it clear that this wasn’t a standard Android app at all: it was a PWA that installed via the Play Store. And the address it was trying to access was mypixelbuds.google.com. At that moment, I thought that was the end of it and that I would simply make some educated guesses about what Google was up to with this and share it as a post. But then I waited a bit and tried again.

The full-ish Pixel Buds app in web form for your Chromebook

This time around, there was no loading error and what showed up surprised me quite a bit. Not only did my Chromebook see and connect to my Pixel Buds Pro via this new PWA; it surfaced the most-used options and settings I have on my Pixel 8 Pro as well. This isn’t just a simplified web app experience by Google. This is most of the Pixel Buds app delivered with web-based tech. And I freaking love it!

From the latest Conversation Detect to the new EQ settings, the Pixel Buds Pro PWA gives Chromebook users nearly everything they need for getting their earbuds tuned up just like they want them. Things like Spatial Audio, Audio Switch controls, and Eartip seal check are missing, but the main stuff you need in an earbuds app is here.

You can control your ANC, Conversation detection, Multipoint, Touch controls, EQ, and see your battery levels all from the PWA, and I’d wager some of the other features are coming as well. I even went as far as removing the Pixel Buds Pro from both my phone and Chromebook and was even able to set them back up using just a Chromebook and this PWA.

While it’s not yet a full replacement for the dedicated Android app just yet, this is a major move from Google to bring this sort of application and connection to Chromebooks via web technologies. A few years ago, this sort of thing wouldn’t have even been feasible. But with the rapid pace of web development, more and more is possible with the web and as a Chromebook lover, it’s a great thing to see. And if you want to try it for yourself, head to mypixelbuds.google.com or search for Pixel Buds in the Play Store on your Chromebook.