Google has released the latest version of Chrome OS, with a few new features for Chromebook owners to try out. If you’re a Chromebook owner, your device should have the newest version now or very shortly.
First off, your Chromebook can now function as a smart display (like Google’s Nest Hub Max) when you’re not actively using it. Like the Nest Hub, it can act like a digital photo album and display pictures on its lock screen. You can select a photo album for your screensaver to cycle through or pick from a gallery of preloaded images.
You can now use the lock screen for other smart display tasks as well. For example, you can play and pause music and check the weather without unlocking the Chromebook.
To turn on the personalized lock screen feature, go into your Chrome OS settings and Select Personalization > Screen Saver.
Another new addition is called Web Authentication, or WebAuthn. This feature will allow you to sign in to certain websites with the PIN or fingerprint that you use to sign in to your Chromebook, rather than with your password for those sites. You can also add WebAuthn as an additional layer of security for two-step verification. Per Google’s blog post, supported websites include Dropbox, GitHub, and Okta.
You don’t need to do anything special to use Web Authentication. When you visit a supported website, you’ll be prompted to switch over.
