June Chrome OS update brings app badges, helps you fight notification overload

Part of what makes the best Chromebooks so good is that they always improve. While Chromebooks didn’t get much attention at Google I/O two weeks ago, the Chrome OS team has been busy enhancing ohe features added in Chrome OS 89 during its 10th birthday. With Chrome OS 90 now out to all devices and Linux coming out of beta, Chrome OS’s improvements this year have been slight changes that can make significant impacts.

Google highlighted one of those additions today while detailing new features out this month: Nearby Share. This feature arrived on Android phones last year — and on Chromebooks earlier this spring — and Google shared testimonials from the Chromebook team about how they use Nearby Share to share photos and files across devices, how they use it for both personal files and for working on Chrome OS.

I’ll confess some skepticism here, mainly because Nearby Share only works about half the time for me, but hey, if the Chromebook team is using it, maybe they’re figuring out ways to make it work better.

The team then shared a few minor updates, two of which could be very useful to those of us who work full-time from Chromebooks. The first is another expansion of notifications: we’re getting app badges — those dots on your phone icons that tell you you’ve got unread messages or active notifications — and you’ll be able to turn off notifications and their accompanying beads with the Notifications toggle in Quick Settings.

It is terrific to have a Do Not Disturb feature on Chromebooks the same way we’ve had it on our phones for years. Especially now that Phone Hub will vomit Chromebook and phone notifications at you, Do Not Disturb is more valuable than ever, and if you’ve never turned it on before, here’s how easy it is:

How to disable notifications for an app or enable Do Not Disturb

1. Tap the time in the bottom right corner.
2. Tap the text for Notifications. (Tapping the icon will toggle on Do Not Disturb instantly.)
3. Tap Do Not Disturb to toggle it on.
4. Tap the desired app to disable notifications for an app or extension that’s being unruly.

The other significant change is the Files app and its Google Drive integration. You’ve long been able to save individual files for offline editing. Still, now Google Drive will allow you to save entire folders worth of documents to make them available and editable offline. This will be done with a new Files app toggle when browsing Google Drive folders. If you’re someone with unreliable internet or does a lot of traveling, this change will be welcome news, but it’s not available just yet.

There are also some new wallpapers available in the Imaginary section by Leo Natsume; the art style reminds me of the art we saw back at Google I/O, as terrifying as that was. If you’re growing tired of landscapes and fine art, they might be worth trying out, and if they don’t scratch your itch, consider our favorite wallpaper sources to find something new.