Chromebooks may become recoverable using an Android device soon

Chromebook use has a number of benefits: for example, everything done on them can be saved to a cloud, thus making the odd PC crash much less of a problem. However, should something like this occur, the user needs to have recovery media on hand in order to restore their device's system. This may involve using or sourcing a second device to download the necessary files in the event of an abrupt failure.

However, it appears that Google has an alternative recovery method for Chromebooks in the works. Unsurprisingly, it requires another product of the same company's ecosystem: Android. A new commit in the Chromium OS Gerrit outlines the method by which this is done once a PC is in recovery. It requires a key combo new to this environment: Ctrl+P. 

The commit's description notes that this is mandatory as "Android recovery device enumeration is potentially dangerous to other USB devices". Therefore, to mitigate this possible harm, there must be overt user-input permission to recover via such a phone, presumably following a check that it has been guarded against beforehand.

It is not clear when (or if) this new Chromebook recovery pathway will go live within the OS. In addition, there is no evidence of how Google plans to make it work from the Android end at present. However, there is some speculation that the Mountain View giant may make a handy and relevant app available in the Play Store when the time comes.