Steam gaming has finally officially arrived on the Chromebook platform with the latest update. Google has rolled out the latest ChromeOS 119 update to most Chromebooks, which brings the official support for Steam gaming to Chromebooks. The update doesn’t have the Steam app pre-installed but comes with an installer in the app drawer. This is good because not everyone games on their Chromebooks and might not want the Steam app pre-installed. The good news is that Chromebook gamers will now be able to install Steam without any flags.
ChromeOS 119 Update Brings Official Steam Support to Chromebooks
As mentioned, the latest ChromeOS 119 brings official Steam support to compatible Chromebooks. It comes with the official Steam support so that Chromebook gamers can install it without any hiccups and those who don’t want to can leave it be. What’s significant here is that it doesn’t require any workaround to install Steam on Chromebooks anymore.
Until now, Chromebook gamers could install and use Steam on their Chromebooks but it required them to turn on an experimental flag to do so. This step is no longer required to install Steam and play games on the Chromebook. All that gamers need is a compatible Chromebook and ChromeOS 119 update downloaded and installed.
The best part is that the Steam icon in the App Drawer of the latest update is not a full-fledged app but a quick shortcut to the Steam Installer. It means while gamers can quickly install the app without any flag, those who are not keen on playing Steam games on the Chromebook can just ignore it. Giving the option to install or not to the end user is a great move by Google.
Additionally, the ChromeOS 119 also brings the new Google Drive File Sync feature for Chromebook Plus users. The feature helps Chromebook Plus users to sync all of their Google Drive files to the Chromebook for offline access. However, it will only work if the Chromebook has enough storage for Google Drive files. For example, users with a 128GB Chromebook will not be able to sync 200GB files on their Google Drive.
Apart from these, the latest update also brings various other features like tab groups in Chrome, improved Privacy Hub toggles for mic and camera for greater control and more. The new update is rolling out in a phased manner to all compatible Chromebooks and should reach all Chromebook users in the coming days.
