Google has started rolling out ChromeOS 117 to Chromebooks widely, and along with a bunch of interesting new features, a big change to the interface is going live with it:Material Youas you know it from Android is making its way to Google’s desktop operating system. This means that many interface elements like window title bars and backgrounds in system settings will take on the dominant colors from your wallpaper.
You can tweak your preferred colors and select whether they should be based on your wallpaper in the Wallpaper & style app, much like you can do on Pixel phones. You have a total of four different color schemes to choose from based on your wallpaper and four more generic colors. The app otherwise lets you set your wallpaper and screen saver and choose if you’d like to use your laptop in light or dark mode.
On the machine we tested this on, Material You only works for ChromeOS windows but not for Android apps. That’s because it’s still running Android 11, which doesn’t support Material You. We presume that once machines are updated toAndroid 13, they will also show Material You colors in Android apps.
The ChromeOS 117 update mirrors theChrome 117update, with the standalone browser for other desktop operating systems also receiving a facelift with this release that incorporates the core ideas of Material You. Given that Chrome doesn’t have control or knowledge about your wallpaper on other operating systems, the integration isn’t as tight and seamless as on ChromeOS. Instead, Chrome bases its colors on your Chrome theme, which you can set up with theCustomize Chromebutton in the bottom right of the new tab page.
On top of Material You, ChromeOS 117 brings a few more welcome tweaks. Google has added adaptive charging to some machines, which, when turned on, automatically stops charging your laptop at 80 percent when you’re likely to leave it plugged in for extended periods. It then intelligently completes the charge based on your usage pattern. The clipboard, accessible viaSearch + Vorright click → Paste from clipboard, now shows more details, making it easier to tell what’s saved to it. The digital keyboard’s emoji picker additionally offers GIFs now.
ChromeOS 117 is rolling out right now, so be sure to update your machine if you want in on the action. you may do so by opening your Chromebook’sSettings → About ChromeOSsection and hitting theCheck for updatesbutton next to your version, if it doesn’t automatically start updating once you open this settings section.
