Googlebook, Google's new Android-based laptops, has just received an update that fixes one of the limitations early adopters complained about most. With Chrome 155, any webpage can now be installed as a web app, even when the site has no installable web manifest.
Installed web apps open in their own window, appear in the app launcher and can be pinned to the taskbar or homescreen. According to one source, the update also moves Chrome Settings into a separate tab. That last detail comes from a single outlet and should be considered unconfirmed by other sources.
Image: Google
The problem was real. As reported by 9to5Google, Googlebooks lacked the same level of web app support as Chromebooks: only "compliant" apps could be installed. The limit was visible with Slack, as noted in the coverage of Dell's XPS Googlebook: the shortcut opened a Chrome tab instead of a standalone window. With the new version, sites such as Photopea, Squoosh and SnapDrop, which were already installable, fit into a more consistent flow, while manual installation extends to any page.
The update rolls out over the next few days through Google Play. Otherwise the picture remains the one already outlined for Googlebooks: ChromeOS support ends in mid-2034, with direct migration for many newer Chromebooks, while Samsung integration continues with Better Together.
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