Chrome OS to Get App Shortcuts & Revamped Bluetooth Stack

Acer's new Chromebook 11

Google is all set to undertake a major revamp of the Bluetooth functionality in Chrome OS, although, it may be some time coming. According to a Chromium bug thread, the company may be looking to overhaul the Bluetooth stack in Chrome OS to better implement some of the new Bluetooth-related functionality introduced by Android. The company is also expected to add support for App Shortcuts in Chrome going forward.

Revamped Bluetooth Stack

Chrome OS to Get App Shortcuts & Revamped Bluetooth Stack
Image Courtesy: XDA

The new structure is expected to enhance the security of Bluetooth communications on Chrome OS, but will hopefully, also rectify some of the Bluetooth-related issues that many users have complained about over the years. As described by XDA, users on the Developer Channel can track the changes by enabling the #newblue flag in chrome://flags, but pairing with the flag enabled is apparently a bit hit-or-miss right now, so it might be a while before the feature is ready for prime-time.

App Shortcuts

Chrome OS to Get App Shortcuts & Revamped Bluetooth Stack
Image Courtesy: XDA

Another interesting change that may be implemented in Chrome OS is support for App Shortcuts, which are not yet available on the platform. However, a new commit to the Chromium code-base now suggests that efforts are well underway to bring support for the feature to a future version of the operating system. As part of a ‘to-do list’ on the Chromium Gerrit, the developers are looking to ‘add app shortcut items in ArcAppContextMenu’ going forward.

Chrome Address Bar

Chrome OS to Get App Shortcuts & Revamped Bluetooth Stack
Image Courtesy: François Beaufort

Lastly, Google’s François Beaufort has also revealed that the Chrome browser may soon get a revamped address-bar, with some of the impending changes now already rolling out to the Canary channel. According to one of his posts on Google+, “The Chrome team is experimenting with “showing images and descriptive text about suggested entries in the address bar in Canary channel”. Users can give it a try by enabling the experimental flag ‘chrome://flags/#omnibox-rich-entity-suggestions’.

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