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The presence of Google in tablets has long consisted of its Android OS smartphone stretched to fit more screens great. The marriage has been an unfortunate one, leaving the Apple iPad and even the Windows 2-in-1 devices as the main options for tablets. This makes recent Google improvements to how much Chrome OS supports ultra-sensitive tablets. Adding tablet-centric features to Google's easy-to-use, secure, and easy-to-administer operating system could give the company a new, powerful weapon against Apple and Microsoft.
So it is timely that Acer sends us the industry's first Chrome OS tablet, the Chromebook Tab 10, which we can consult. The device itself is intended for education, built with rugged plastic and priced at only $ 330. The product itself will not compare very soon to an iPad, but it offers an interesting insight into the use of Chrome OS on a tablet.
The good
The key elements of using a Chrome The OS on a tablet are solid.
For the most part, Chrome OS allows you to do things when you use it with touch alone.
Touch and tapping are reliable and consistent – and the Wacom EMR stylus included with the Acer Chromebook Tab 10 works well with the touch-sensitive support of Chrome OS (compared to Windows 10 Ink, for example) . It even comes with an integrated slot for storage.
Although it's a little smaller than we like, the stylus works to take notes and create simple drawings. For the most part, Chrome OS allows you to do things when you use it with touch alone.
One of the first real nods from Google to tablets is a new launcher. While Chromebooks have a row of recent apps with a search bar similar to Google's, the new launcher looks suspiciously like the one you find on an Android device. Click on the button in the taskbar, and you will get a pop-up launcher making all your installed apps available at a touch. The new launcher works in standard Chromebook mode and in tablet mode, but is better to the touch than a touchpad.
The Chrome OS tablet mode now supports the same basic view type. and the split screen mode that exists on other modern operating systems. This means that you can click the task view button to view the thumbnails of your open applications, long-press the thumbnail of a Chrome operating system or on a selected Android application and the slide from one side or the other. You can then grab another app and populate the other side. It works pretty well and creates a generally productive environment, just like the functionality on other platforms.
These additions are not just nice additions: they are essential for the experience to look more like a true mobile operating system. They are bare bones, but they are there.
The latest addition – and most importantly – is the Android apps themselves. The Google Play Store appeared on Chromebooks early in 2018 and began a real conversation about the future of the Chrome OS platform. The amazing thing to note is that even though we have had problems once in a while, the experience is quite easy.
You can download one of your favorite Android apps – and with tablet in hand – use them like on an iPad. When you are in an app, everything seems pretty normal. When you go out into the Chrome OS world, you have some problems.
The Bad
While all the basics are all there, it does not take a lot of time with a Chrome OS tablet to see the problems. Beyond the new launcher and split screen mode, there is not much else that has been optimized for tablets. If all you use is iOS or Android, Chrome OS will provide you with most or all of what you need. But if you're waiting for desktop-level features without the keyboard, you'll find it a bit frustrating.
Even something as simple as switching to an open application becomes less effective than it should be.
an iPad works better with touch and would sometimes be awkward with a mouse (that, of course, iOS does not actually support), the opposite is true with Chrome OS. Touch works pretty well, but the operating system remains dedicated to the keyboard and mouse – so you can add a keyboard and mouse to a Chrome OS tablet.
And if you come from an iPad, you're going to Missing additional multitouch gestures like using four fingers to switch between apps. Chrome OS only offers a few gestures, and although it covers the basics, they just seem a little nailed at this point.
Even something as simple as switching to an open application becomes less effective than it should be, as open application icons populate the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Once you have exceeded the maximum that can be displayed at a time, which is only a few in portrait mode, you must press an arrow to see the rest. The task view in tablet mode is another option, but the need to dig into the taskbar is kludgy on a tablet – and see the next section to find out what happens when you've manipulated the display resolution .
You can drag, select objects, launch processes and enter text using the touch without much noise, but compared to a platform for iOS or Android, it is sorely lacking in touch functionality.It is not as optimized for tablets that it should be and constantly reminds us that Chrome OS is a desktop computing interface with touch capabilities, not a system built from scratch to touch it.
OS to iOS. Apple has integrated a lot of useful multitouch gestures beyond just right-click two fingers, pinch to zoom, and make gl Make gestures that Chrome OS supports. The difference is not dramatic, but when you switch from the Chromebook Tab 10 to an iPad, you have the impression that the iPad really wants you to use this touchscreen to move you in. ;interface. Chrome OS does its best to help.
The Ugly
Beyond the basic issues related to using Chrome OS as a tablet, we were also faced with a blatantly ugly incident. and hitting buttons, typing and controlling things becomes a nightmare.
In a clear demonstration of how Chrome OS maintains its link with the keyboard and mouse, we have encountered some problems while adjusting the display resolution. You can increase or decrease the resolution on the Chromebook 10 tab from its default of 1,152 x 864, which makes UI elements smaller or larger.
It appears that the setting changes the scaling. everything is also clean – it's more about changing the text size and other Windows 10 elements in percent, rather than changing the resolution relative to the native display setting.
It's easy to change the scale making the interface downright impossible to control using touch alone. Everything becomes tiny, and hitting buttons, typing and controlling things becomes a nightmare. And the interface is not consistent in the use of additional real estate – for example, the launcher does not expand to fill the screen, it just shows the same icons than previously, only smaller. The setting does not seem to stay between reboots, and if you're having trouble, just restarting the tablet seems like a simple solution.
Apple knew that it was a problem from the beginning, and it's probably why you can not change the scale on an iPad. Unlike iOS, which badumes you'll only use your finger to control the interface, Chrome OS seems to badume that you'll have access to a mouse to control the smallest elements on the screen. This makes sense since Chrome OS supports a mouse – which is not the case for iOS – but it can send you back when your mouse is not available.
Also note that changing scaling is causing problems with Android apps. When the screen was set to a higher resolution, some applications, such as Microsoft OneNote, recognized the change and loaded a functional interface – but very, very small -.
Google has work to do if it wants Chrome OS to be a competitive tablet operating system.
Other, such as games like Cut the Rope 2 have failed to charge at all. In these cases, there was no way to close the offending application and the only way to recover was to perform a hard restart. When the resolution is lower, Android apps take only part of the display.
This is a relatively innocuous little example of the biggest problem that Google has not thought about every time it does not have access to a keyboard.
On the way, but not yet there
Obviously, Google has work to do if it wants Chrome OS to be a competitive tablet.
At the moment, all we can say is that the Chromebook Tab 10 – and similar devices – are really reserved for Chrome OS enthusiasts. Everyone will want to look elsewhere, starting with the iPad, which can do all the things less complex than a Chrome OS tablet can do but with an interface that feels much more consistent and natural (and for almost the same price). 19659044] Meanwhile, if you have access to a mouse, then you might as well stick to a Windows 10 device, which can do a lot more than any Chromebook.
At this point, we can not see Chrome OS doing more damage to the tablet market than Google running with Android tablets. But little by little, as Google imports more and more Android features on Chrome OS, it could simply turn into a fully functional 2-in-1 operating system. For now, you will be more frustrated than inspired by the experience.
