Google Chrome OS 88 turns your Chromebook into a smart display

Windows 10 has always offered robust customization options, but Google’s Chrome OS is catching up. Chrome OS 88, which started rolling out on Tuesday, now offers the ability to customize your lock screen as well as some security features for accessing websites.

Specifically, Chrome OS 88 now gives you the option to extract from your Google Photos while viewing the lock screen. Google’s operating system also supports WebAuthn, a standard that lets you use your Chromebook as a second factor to sign in to websites.

The debate between buying a Chromebook and a Windows laptop spans many fronts. Windows has offered many options for personalizing your PC. Chromebooks have always suffered somewhat here – they were built primarily to get things done.

Google

With Chrome 88, if you go to the Settings menu in Chrome OS, and from there Personalization> Screen saver, you will find a variety of new options. You can use Google Photos to display images from your collection on the lock screen or use one of Google’s own images. According to Google, you can also check information like the current weather and the music being played, as well as pause a track or skip songs without unlocking your device. It might not be as good as, say, a Google Nest smart display, but it’s not bad either.

Google

Just as convenient are the security additions to Chrome 88. Chrome OS now supports WebAuthn, a technology that lets you skip the use of passwords when signing into a supported website. While we have argued that storing your password in your browser is not as secure or convenient as a password manager, these password managers also do not work as an app in Chrome OS. .

Instead, if you sign in to a supported website like Dropbox, GitHub, or Okta, you can use WebAuthn in Chrome OS to sign in using your Chromebook rather than a password. The Chromebook is used as a two-factor authentication factor, a device that you own. The WebAuthn-enabled site will then ask for another factor: something you know (your Chromebook PIN) or something that identifies you as you. In the latter case, it means that if your Chromebook has a fingerprint reader, you can use it to authenticate yourself.

Currently, only a few Chromebooks come with fingerprint readers, so the introduction of this feature could mean a change is imminent – and Chrome OS 88 is laying the groundwork. One of the nicest and most convenient features on a Windows PC is Windows Hello. Will Chromebooks Get Something Similar?