I’m loving this ChromeOS rounded corners feature for open windows

It’s been quite some time since the concept of rounded corners for open windows on ChromeOS emerged. It’s been nearly 3 years since the first sightings of this subtle-yet-impactful change was first spotted, and in the time since then, we’ve still not seen it emerge as a primary feature.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t simply hiding behind a flag, ready to be deployed for those wishing to experiment a bit. With a simple enabling of the chrome://flags/#rounded-windows flag, you can try this feature out right now on your Chromebook with very little hassle.

I’ve had it on for a couple of days just to see if I notice any massive issues with it enabled, and so far, nothing is really out of place. I expected there to be a few tiny aesthetic problems, but there’s nothing I’ve seen where rounded windows have any negative visual effect on anything thus far.

Even though this is what feels like a small change, there’s a modern feel that these persistent rounded corners bring to the overall OS. With so much of Google’s design language utilizing rounded corners, this change feels right at home and comfortable right off the bat.

As a matter of fact, it’s so solid at this point that I’m wondering why it hasn’t been put into play yet. There’s one additional flag that I turned on to complement this whole thing, and it seems to also be working flawlessly: chrome://flags/#arc-rounded-window-compat. This adds rounded corners for Android app windows as well, and as you can see in the featured image up top, it works as expected here, too.

From my point of view, I’m hopeful that the ChromeOS team flips the switch on this sooner than later. It looks great, it really adds a finished touch to the OS, and most importantly, it doesn’t seem to be causing any issues at this point. But until they make that update happen, just know that you can enjoy some rounded corner action right now by turning on a couple simple flags.