Chromebooks, that are powered by Chrome OS, are usually considered as a less complicated different to Home windows and macOS programs. However as extra Chromebooks flirt with four-figure value tags—take, for instance, the Asus Chromebook Flip C436, Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, and just lately introduced Acer Chromebook Spin 514—customers will begin to demand at the very least a little extra performance. To that finish, a function being labored on in Chromium’s open supply code critiques device would give Chromebooks a capability that Home windows and macOS machines have already got.
Based mostly on an “add function” flag noticed within the Chromium Gerrit by Chrome Unboxed, you would possibly quickly be capable of reply cellphone calls in your Chromebook by means of its Telephone Hub function. The outline for the flag, made to “allow the Incoming/Ongoing name notification function,” says that it “permits the incoming/ongoing name function in Telephone Hub.”
At the moment, you need to use Telephone Hub to view your Android cellphone’s notifications and just lately used Chrome tabs and ship and obtain textual content messages. The power to reply cellphone calls would provide you with one much less purpose to choose up your cellphone. Home windows customers with Android units have already got this feature by way of Your Telephone, and macOS customers with iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches have the identical skill with the Continuity function.
Whereas Telephone Hub helps telephones working Android 5.1 or later, the brand new function might solely be obtainable to Pixel telephones—at the very least initially. That is partially as a consequence of buzz round Google’s “Eche” initiative, a software program bridge that’s anticipated to reflect Pixel telephones on the Chrome desktop. The corporate hasn’t formally introduced Eche, however phrase of it additionally got here by means of the Gerrit grapevine.
In response to a quick teaser within the Google I/O convention keynote in Could, Google can be anticipated to replace Telephone Hub to allow you to view your most up-to-date photographs in your laptop. We hope Google will lengthen the options to as many customers as attainable somewhat than holding them hostage behind its Pixel telephones.
Microsoft’s Your Telephone function works with any Android cellphone model 7.0 and up. Contemplating Google makes each Android and Chrome OS, it could be odd if Home windows was extra welcoming of various Android telephones than Chrome O
