Even as Google continues internal work on the mythical Fuchsia OS as the potential Android and ChromeOS successor, the fact remains that ChromeOS and Android are designed to cater to separate user demographics. While Android is built with a smartphone-first approach, ChromeOS is designed for laptop use.
However, Google has been unsuccessful in competing with the Apple iPad with either operating system. According to Mishaal Rahman writing for Android Authority, Google plans to turn the tide by fully transforming ChromeOS to Android in the coming years to streamline development.
Currently, ChromeOS allows running certain Android apps on Chromebooks and offers Crostini to use a Linux container. ChromeOS does decent interop with an Android smartphone, including the ability to use Google Messages, sharing Wi-Fi, and more.
Back in June, Google announced that it will start bringing the Android tech stack to ChromeOS to allow for better AI tools and to simplify engineering efforts. The messaging back then was that this would only affect the backend components while the ChromeOS UI as such would remain largely unchanged.
However, if the recent report from Android Authority is to be believed, Google will eventually move ChromeOS fully to Android. This brings several immediate advantages to the ecosystem including broader device support, expansion of Android to laptops, access to the full Google Play Store catalog of apps and games, increased developer revenue, and unified development efforts.
Recent efforts from Mountain View such as enabling extensions on the Chrome browser for Android and plans to integrate a Terminal to run a full-fledged Linux virtual machine seem aligned with the company's larger efforts to merge ChromeOS with Android.
The exact timeline for supplanting ChromeOS with Android is not clear as there is no official announcement from Google yet, but it is definitely a multi-year project. Google still work to do on improving aspects of Android such as multi-window management, support for external displays, compatibility with a wide range of keyboard and mice, support for multiple desktops, and more.
Hopefully, the rumored Pixel Laptop will provide a first glimpse into Google's unification efforts.
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