Sameer Samat, president of Google for Android ecosystem development, spoke at the Qualcomm summit about the ongoing work to merge the Android and Chrome OS platforms, with results expected to reach users in 2026. Android will remain the main platform, which will be expanded with tools for use on laptops and PCs. The results of this work are already evident in the releases of Android 15 and 16, where a desktop mode has been implemented and adaptations for larger screen devices have been made. Ultimately, Chromebook users will be offered familiar Chrome OS capabilities, translated to utilize Android technologies.
The reasons for migrating to Android technologies include the integration of the PC and laptop environment with the Android ecosystem and the desire to utilize the expanding AI services of Gemini across a larger number of devices. Transitioning to Android will also enable the use of available virtual and augmented reality tools on laptops. In the past, Google employees have mentioned the desire to strengthen competition with the iPad and more effectively utilize engineering resources, rather than spreading efforts across two operating systems.
By default, Chrome OS employs encryption of disk partitions with user data (using fscrypt), while system partitions are mounted in read-only mode, verified with a digital signature, and updated atomically (two root partitions, one for operation and one for installing updates, which swap places). Output to the screen is handled by the Freon graphical stack and the Aura window manager (a compositing project is also developed on top of Aura). server Exo based on Wayland, working on top of Aura). The source code is distributed under the Apache 2.0 open-source license.
Burimi: opennet.ru
