Post-Chrome OS 70+ tweaks

[WillysJeepMan]

Ever since upgrading to Chrome OS 70 (and now 71), something felt different about the PB other than the rounded corners and tablet-mode.

It went from a high-resolution productivity device, to "Fisher-Price's My First Chromebook" with oversized icons and buttons.

Then it hit me... Google scaled things up to make it touch-friendly. That is great if one uses their PB primarily as a tablet, but for those who are using it primarily as an ultrabook, this cuts down on productivity.

Here's how to set it back to something closer to pre-70...

Settings -> Device -> Displays -> Internal Display

Move the slider toward the left to make the display elements appear smaller (resulting in more content on the screen).

This is another thing that I love about Chrome OS... the ease in which one can tinker with things like this without messing things up.

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks for the tip! I always set the taskbar to automatically hide anyway, so that I always have that lower screen real estate free.

 

[anon(10092459)]

Thanks for the tip! I always set the taskbar to automatically hide anyway, so that I always have that lower screen real estate free.

I do the same.

Overall, I must say I am pleased so far. But this build is a bit "different". The handling of notifications for example. I just prefer them separate from the system tray as they were before.

I mean, I get it. Chrome is leaning on the side of mobile now ... but still.

 

[B. Diddy]

I agree. I find the notifications can be a little janky sometimes when I want to dismiss one. I also sometimes notice the rounded corners briefly disappear if I'm trying to scroll up or down to view more notifications.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I've also found that when there is more than 1 notification, that the top-most notification can't be closed because the rounded corner cuts off the "x".

 

[anon(10092459)]

You know, my last Chromebook was a fantastic device. Ran flawlessly for 5 years, but is no longer being supported as of this summer. The final build on that machine was 65. Stable still to this day.

This new direction with 70+, I'm about 85% okay with. I've had some minor bugs and irritants with the UI, but nothing I don't believe Google will rectify with future builds. My single biggest irritant initially, I was having some trouble with the syncing operation upon signing in. Reset the sync and power washed a couple of times and it seems to have gotten itself sorted out.

 

[B. Diddy]

Since I don't use my Chromebooks as a tablet, the newer touch-friendly UI hasn't been bothersome nor particularly interesting to me. As a laptop, my Chromebooks continue to be largely problem free. Can't say the same for my Windows PC.:-\

 

[WillysJeepMan]

You know, my last Chromebook was a fantastic device. Ran flawlessly for 5 years, but is no longer being supported as of this summer. The final build on that machine was 65. Stable still to this day.

This new direction with 70+, I'm about 85% okay with. I've had some minor bugs and irritants with the UI, but nothing I don't believe Google will rectify with future builds. My single biggest irritant initially, I was having some trouble with the syncing operation upon signing in. Reset the sync and power washed a couple of times and it seems to have gotten itself sorted out.

I've noticed that too. As Chrome OS expands to different form-factors: notebooks, tablets, desktops, 2-in-1s, AND people begin owning more than one Chrome OS device, I think that Google needs to consider how to handle different hardware profiles within the same Google account.

For example: If I have Pen-centric apps on my Pixelbook (like Squid), I don't necessarily want it on my Acer Chromebook 14 (which has neither a touchscreen nor Pen support). I deleted Squid from my Acer only to discover that it was automatically deleted from my Pixelbook. (I don't know if that is a bug or working as designed)

I don't know if there's a good way handle this (every option that I've considered has its own share of issues).

 

[anon(10092459)]

I've noticed that too. As Chrome OS expands to different form-factors: notebooks, tablets, desktops, 2-in-1s, AND people begin owning more than one Chrome OS device, I think that Google needs to consider how to handle different hardware profiles within the same Google account.

For example: If I have Pen-centric apps on my Pixelbook (like Squid), I don't necessarily want it on my Acer Chromebook 14 (which has neither a touchscreen nor Pen support). I deleted Squid from my Acer only to discover that it was automatically deleted from my Pixelbook. (I don't know if that is a bug or working as designed)

I don't know if there's a good way handle this (every option that I've considered has its own share of issues).

Definitely in agreement with you here. It sounds unusual, almost unreasonable, to think they haven't considered exactly what you're suggesting. But they seem to have left plenty of room for doubt, nonetheless.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Another pet-peeve of mine with Chrome OS 71....
There is no auto-arrange for the app tray (fullscreen mode) This results in blank icon places in the grid where an app was (that was automatically deleted...see my previous post)

It looks odd and sometimes seems like I'm at the bottom of the list when there is actually another page or more of icons.

 

[B. Diddy]

While we're talking about little bugs and gremlins -- I wish there were an easy way to toggle the top row keys between Chrome functions and traditional PC function keys. I know there's the toggle switch buried in the Settings menu, and I know it says you can long-press the Search key to do it. However, being a traditional typist who has good reason to use CAPS LOCK on a regular basis for work-related documents, I have the Search key defaulted to be Caps Lock. When it's set that way, long-pressing the key doesn't work as a toggle.:-\