Google’s Chrome OS has just gained a new feature that would enable users to quickly search for the definitions of words and phrases while working in apps or browsing web pages. Called ‘Quick Answers‘, the feature works similarly to the ‘Look Up’ functionality on macOS that enables users to highlight any text to know more about it from online sources.
Believed to have been originally spotted on the Chromium code repository by Chrome Story last November, the new feature has just started rolling out to the Canary channel of Chrome OS and, according to Chrome Unboxed, can be enabled via the flag: #enable-quick-answers in Chrome Canary v81. The report further states that alongside definitions, the feature will also show pronunciations of highlighted words, as well as translations in case of foreign words and phrases.
Once enabled via the aforementioned Chrome flag, the feature can be accessed by highlighting any text and right-clicking on it on the latest Chrome Canary build. If there’s no result available, users will still be able to retrieve results directly from Google Assistant much the same way as one would do on the phone, as long as the Assistant option is enabled on that particular device.
Do note that the feature is disabled by default, which means it has to be manually activated by users wanting to check it out for themselves. In the absence of any official word from Google, it’s not entirely clear as to when it will eventually be available in the stable channel, but that should happen in the coming months.
