Google has begun rolling out ChromeOS 130 update to eligible Chromebooks which brings a whole new set of features and changes, such as a new AI voice recorder App that’s similar to what we have seen in Google Pixel smartphones, Quick Insert feature, and much more.
Quick Insert provides a quick way to insert emojis, symbols, GIFs, Google Drive links, and quick calculations and unit conversions with a keyboard key (on select models) or a keyboard shortcut. In ChromeOS 130, a new shortcut Launcher + f is available on all ChromeOS devices to trigger the function. A new hardware key is initially available on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus only, but the Quick Insert key will launch on a range of devices in 2025, as announced by the company earlier in October.
ChromeOS 130 introduces the new Google AI-powered Recorder app to create transcriptions that can detect and label speakers, and provide a summary of recorded content. It also offers features like speech-to-text, content summarization, and title suggestions, all powered by Google AI.
A new Studio-style mic feature is also a part of the update, rolling out only to Chromebook Plus devices. The feature uses existing noise cancellation and de-reverberation effects, and further enhances them with advanced balancing, reconstruction of fine details, and room adaptation. Users who have enabled noise cancellation will get the Studio-style mic enhancements by default starting with this release. If a user wants to revert to the old noise cancellation-only effect, they can select the appropriate option in Settings > Device > Audio.
Appearance effects, that have been popular among the products of cameras, virtual meetings, and short videos for a long time and launched on some Google products, will now be available in Chromebooks for Video call controls. Help me read in ChromeOS is also a part of the update, which helps you summarize PDFs, articles or websites, all with a right click. You can even ask follow-up questions to dive deeper. Starting next year you can even highlight specific sentences or paragraphs you need extra help clarifying.
Aside from these, there are other changes in ChromeOS 130 as well, such as new suggestions in Tote, enhanced access for Drive files, more accessible privacy controls, ability to adjust keyboard brightness, display brightness, and control the ambient light sensor directly from the Settings app, Multi-calendar support, and Picture-in-Picture (PiP) windows.