New Chrome OS update is coming! Google releases eSim support and other features

According to the latest news, the Google has just posted about the latest Chrome OS update over on their official blog. We’ve known for awhile that a new emoji picker and eSim compatibility were coming to Chromebooks. Now, both of those things are officially coming in the Chrome OS 92 stable build.

Google previewed the new emoji picker last month, and now you can access it on your Chromebook with the latest update. In addition, Google also officially announced that the Meet Progressive Web App (PWA) will be preinstalled on Chromebooks going forward. There were a few other interesting tidbits, so let’s dive into everything in a bit more detail.

Keep in mind that Google also recently partnered with Zoom to improve the performance of their video calling platform in a new PWA for Chromebooks as well. You now have a plethora of great options for video calling thanks to the latest Chrome OS update.

New emoji picker

If you use your Chromebook for messaging, you’re definitely using emoji. Until now, emoji selection on a Chromebook was somewhat inconvenient. To bring Chrome OS more in line with the mobile experience for messaging, Google unveiled an all new emoji picker for your Chromebook.

In order to use the new emoji picker, use the keyboard shortcut to bring it up. From there, you can see your recently used emoji and scroll to discover others. With a click, the perfect emoji is inserted into a conversation, document, or any text field on your Chromebook. You can also search for emoji inside the picker, just as you would on an Android phone.

eSim support on Chrome OS

Over the past few years, eSim has become more widespread in the smartphone landscape. Google is now bringing that same great capability to LTE or 5G-enabled Chromebooks. From the Google blog post:

Chrome OS now supports eSIM for cellular connectivity. With eSIM, you can download and switch between carrier profiles without having to insert or remove a physical SIM card from your laptop. This will be particularly helpful if you need to connect to a cellular network but can’t run to the store for a SIM card, and for international travelers who frequently switch between networks.

Just keep in mind that there aren’t that many cellular-enabled Chromebooks out there right now. You’ll need one of the few capable models to make use of eSim on the latest Chrome OS update

New Togetherness wallpapers and Explore app additions

Lastly, Google announced a new collection of wallpapers called Togetherness and a few modifications to the Chrome OS Explore app. The wallpaper collection comes our way from three prominent Black artists: Aurelia Durand, Sabrena Khadija and Meech Boakye. To try them out, just right-click your desktop and choose “Set wallpaper,” then select Togetherness.

That’s pretty much everything Google announced today over on the Chrome OS blog. There’s a few really exciting features for those that use Chromebooks daily, and there’s a lot more to come this year as gaming will get more interesting when official Steam support arrives, hopefully before the end of 2021.