One of the major hardware differences is the built-in storage space. Given that Chrome OS is quite light, and most of the apps are really web apps, most Chrome OS laptops come with limited internal storage. In the most basic sense, Chrome OS is an operating system based on the Chrome browser you probably already know and love. This may sound like a glorified browser, and it used to be, but things have changed in recent years. Chromebooks can now run Android apps , and some even support Linux applications.
This makes Chrome OS laptops helpful for doing more than simply browsing the web. More : What is Chrome OS and who is it for? Like we mentioned above, Chrome OS laptops generally have a lower storage capacity. This makes them less than ideal to run Windows. However, these machines can run Windows, if you really want them to. Additionally, there are also ways of running Windows apps on these Chrome OS laptops. Instructions here : How to put Windows on Chromebook devices.
Chromebooks are perfect for some use cases, and not so ideal for others. A Chromebook is a computing device at the end of the day, and is actually simpler to use than many modern computers. Chrome OS has that going for it on the whole. It borrows a lot of cues from Android, and the Chrome browser and its ecosystem of apps. Chrome OS is made for very basic tasks, and if your machine supports it, you can expand the functionality by installing some Android apps, or even some full Linux apps. Below are some guides to help you get the most out of your Chrome OS machine.
They typically cost less than Windows laptops with similar specifications. Those with higher-end needs will need to really pay up to get a superior Chrome OS laptop.
At that price point, there are many other options to consider, many of which have a full desktop OS. Check out the link below for some great options.
There are a wide variety of Android apps out there, and they can help enhance the Chrome OS experience greatly. Most Chrome OS laptops released after support Android apps, but keep in mind not all Android apps are optimized for Chrome OS, except the more popular ones. This means you have most Android apps available on the Play Store ready for installation. This includes many of the best Android apps out there, including almost any messaging, chat, or video call app, music streaming, and video streaming apps.
If you want to check whether your Chrome OS device supports Android apps, and want to go on and install them, check out our guides linked below.
To manually check for updates, you should:. The Chromebook Play Store looks like the Android device version. If the app is formatted for tablet, it will look the same. Learn more. While the Android app support rollout for Chrome OS devices was slow at first, there are now a healthy number of first and third-party devices that can run the hundreds of millions of apps available from the Google Play Store.
In addition to announcing that Android apps are coming to Chromebooks, Google also revealed it would start adding Linux app support to Chromebooks by lacing them in a Debian-based virtual machine. Read more: What is a Chromebook and what can it do? However, Pushbullet is slightly better at notification handling and has clipboard syncing across devices as well. If you are not happy with Pushbullet , you can also check out its alternatives.
In case you are looking to transfer files wirelessly through a local network then I would highly recommend snapdrop. You can learn more about Snapdrop from our detailed guide. Install: AirDroid Free , Offers in-app purchases. Install: Pushbullet Free , Offers in-app purchases Adobe Lightroom In the web apps section, I have mentioned a few photo-editing programs , but those are mostly for image manipulation and complicated editing.
However, if you want an offline app that allows you to adjust lighting, contrast, saturation, and other such parameters then Adobe Lightroom is the best Chrome OS app in this regard. Simply put, if you are a photographer and want to enhance the look of your photos then just go with Adobe Lightroom on your Chromebook.
It supports both mouse and touch-screen controls so you can delve deeper and edit your images in great detail. Install: Adobe Lightroom Free , Offers in-app purchases. While Chrome OS is not designed to handle resource-intensive tasks, there are a few ways you can push your machine to the brink.
The app layout is optimized for full-screen use so there is a timeline track, controls on the left window and your video output on the center. All in all, if you want to do video editing on your Chromebook, PowerDirector is a great app to use. Install: PowerDirector Free , Offers in-app purchases Squid Squid is my personal favorite in this list and one of the best Chrome OS apps. You can scribble your notes with a stylus just like you would on paper. Further, you can import images, scribble over it, markup PDFs and more.
The best part about this app is that the company has partnered with Google to bring down low-ink latency on select Chromebooks. It will make you feel like you writing on a solid paper. So if you were looking for a note-taking app that is heavily optimized for Chrome OS then Squid is the best app, bar none.
Install: Squid Free , Offers in-app purchases Snapseed For users who like Snapseed on their smartphone, well, you can use it on Chromebook as well with equally great control and features. Google has ensured to bring this popular app on Chrome OS with support for the big screen and mouse controls. Not to mention, you can also adjust the image using the touch screen too. And I say, editing on a big screen with touch-screen controls is much better than using mouse and keyboard combination.
Anyway, if you are looking for a simple photo-editing app, you can definitely go with Snapseed. Also, if you are new to Snapseed check out our Snapseed tips and tricks article to master the apps. Install: Snapseed Free Solid Explorer Solid Explorer does not need any introduction, but if you looking for an alternative file explorer on Chrome OS then Solid Explorer is the one you should pick.
To be frank, the native file manager on Chrome OS is very limited and does not have multi-window dragging and other essential features. In that case, you can use Solid Explorer as it offers a two-pane window and you can access all kinds of details of a file or folder.
Apart from that, I like how Solid Explorer organizes my files and also allows me to clean up my internal storage periodically. Simply put, if you want an alternative file manager then Solid Explorer is one of the best Chrome OS apps. Install: Solid Explorer Free , Offers in-app purchases The app is designed in such a way that all your focus remains on writing alone.
Not to mention, there is dark mode, dictation, focus mode, and more. Install: iA Writer Free , Offers in-app purchases. It offers a free plan at a slightly reduced speed and in limited regions.
I would say instead of relying on dubious Proxy extensions on Chrome, installing a proper VPN is the best way to stop your data leakage. Apart from that, Proton VPN worked perfectly fine in our testing.
You can use this app on your Chromebook for reading eBooks in tablet or tent mode. But that is not all, despite being completely free, the app does not show any ads while reading books or documents.
Simply put, if you are a voracious reader and want to make your Chromebook a Kindle alternative then ReadEra is the stepping stone you were looking for. Extensions are also equally popular in the Chrome ecosystem. So, in this article, I am going to share some of the best Chrome OS extensions that can enhance your experience even better. Text In case you are wondering about the lack of a Text editor like Notepad on Windows on Chrome OS , well Google has recently developed an extension for that.
As the name suggests, Text is a simple text editor where you can write anything you want. The extension for Text files is also TXT which is the same as Notepad so all your Text files can be used on other systems as well.
Surprisingly, Google has baked in dark mode too on this text editor. So, just install Text on your Chromebook and give it a go. Check Out Text Nimbus Screenshot Screenshot feature has almost become a necessity on every system — be it a smartphone or a desktop computer. While Chrome OS does have native support for screenshots , you can get a third-party extension if you are looking for versatile features.
Nimbus is a pretty solid app and offers plenty of options from partial to window screenshots. You can further crop and annotate the images as well. Apart from that, if you want an extension solely for annotation purposes then Awesome Screenshot extensions is another great choice. It offers you to create boxes, blur certain parts of the image, highlight sections, and more. Screencastify Screencastify is one of the powerful apps for Chrome OS as it allows you to record your screen with your voice and webcam support.
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