Your Chromebook now doubles as a smart display
- Google released Chrome OS 88 with a screen saver that turns Chromebooks into smart displays.
- You can get personalized weather, music controls, and your choice of art.
- The update also allows you to sign in to websites with your fingerprint or PIN code.
You might not need to buy a device like the Nest Hub Max to install a smart display in your home – at least not if you own a Chromebook. Google released a Chrome OS 88 update that turns your Chromebook lock screen – with a few caveats – into a smart display.
Turn on a screensaver (under Personalization) and your Chromebook lock screen can display custom weather, music controls, and other information. As with typical smart displays, you can also set the background to show a personal photo album (from Google Photos). If you’d rather not show your own photos, you can choose from “hundreds” of images in the art gallery.
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Your Chromebook will improve once you step off the lock screen. Chrome OS 88 provides support for logging into websites that have web authentication functionality (also known as WebAuthn) using either your Chromebook‘s fingerprint reader or PIN code. You can also use either method for two-factor authentication if you don’t want to pull out your phone to check your logins.
Chrome OS 88 should be available now. Your Chromebook lock screen won’t mimic a smart display perfectly without video chat or sophisticated smart home controls. However, you may not mind if you just want to take a look at the conditions before going for a walk. Lock screens tend to be sterile. If nothing else, your display is working.
