Chrome OS uses single sign-on account sync to create a unique experience. You can pick up a new Chromebook or an existing one power wash and get back up and running with virtually all of your life data in a matter of moments. This means that if your hardware is damaged or lost, long data transfers and boredom are a thing of the past. However, there are five very specific things Google has chosen not to include in their sync that make the Chromebook setup process feel a little less magical and efficient.
do not disturb
We’ve already talked about reducing distractions by using the Do Not Disturb feature in your Quick Settings, but one very annoying thing is that when you power up, set up a new device or just recharge a Chromebook, you have to turn on Do Not Disturb … every time. Maybe it’s just me, but every time I turn on my Chromebook for the day, it’s become second nature for me to turn on DnD as a first action. If a user has a specific preference for this, it goes without saying that it should be persistent, right? If I no longer want Not Disturbed to be activated, I will turn it off manually. Something to chew on!
User Dictionary
If you have to right-click the words you use often to get rid of the red winding line beneath them, it’s annoying enough the first time, but every time you wash your device or sign up for a new one, you just have to make me bonkers. . . Maybe it’s just my undiagnosed OCD that comes to play here, but when I tell my device that a proper name, a brand name or a popular, yet relatively new word that is not yet part of the official dictionary, is something what I want if accepted correctly, I do not want to be constantly told that it has never been heard of, just because I have a different piece of hardware. Cloud synchronization of the user’s personal dictionary makes perfect sense to me – why is it not something yet?
You can find your custom Chrome OS keyboard dictionary here:
Settings> Applications> Google Play Store> Android Settings Settings> System> Languages> Personal Dictionary
Chrome flags
Chrome OS flags are for developers and even for the crackling elite, so I understand that it does not really affect a new Chromebook user – especially a basic browser, but for those of us who are constantly enabling a lot of it to try new and upcoming features, it’s quite annoying to have to do this every time we sign up for a new device. Many flags like those for global media controls, photo-in-picture mode and more, are so well-developed that they almost became staples of our Chromebook experience even before they were released. It will be very convenient to keep persistent flags in sync with our accounts – I can not be the only one who feels that way.
Automatic login to all sites
This one is not really something they need to sync, but it slows down the setup process for a new device drastically, so I thought I would mention it here. Chrome fills in passwords automatically, thanks to the feature that is part of Android 9, which Chromebooks have now built in, but in my opinion it’s not good enough. I can imagine it, but it seems like I remember for a while – perhaps improperly – that in addition to Chrome Autofill, it also offers the ability to automatically sign in to sites for you. We recently showed a reader that Chrome OS does not, and it made me realize how slow it is to set up a new device or set up an existing device again – especially for those of us who have hundreds of accounts.
Custom keyboard shortcuts
The OOBE or out of the box experience for Chromebooks that is stuck while the process starts and completes forces the ‘All’ button to accept the features of a capital letter instead of Search until it is manually changed via the settings . For someone who has never really attributed the dedication to the capital letters, I really like the way Google has approached things and prefer that my All Button searches be out of the box – as for unlinked Chromebooks. If our keyboard key adjustments are synced with our Google Account, it’s phenomenal.
What do you think of these five categories? Did I miss something vital that you think delayed the experience of setting up a new device? Let’s discuss it in the comments!
