Google's Ambitious Plan to Unify Chrome OS and Android

Google has struggled with its tablets for quite some time. Not only on the hardware front but also with its software, and it’s clear that Google is still far behind the market leader – the iPad. Now, according to Android Authority, it appears that Android will replace Chrome OS as its desktop OS in the future.

The search giant already announced in June that it would use parts of Android’s tech stack in Chrome OS. But it is apparently going even deeper than that. Google is working on a multi-year project that would fully turn Chrome OS into Android, with the hopes of finally competing with the iPad.

While Android was originally made for digital cameras and now works on smartphones, tablets, and various other platforms, we have seen it on laptops before. In fact, Lenovo has the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid which is technically an Android tablet with a Windows base, but for all intents and purposes, it is an Android laptop. HP and Dell have also done similar Android laptop projects over the years. Now, Google is following suit.

The Google Pixel Laptop will likely run Android

This morning, we reported that Google was working on a Pixel Laptop and that it was working on testing it against some other heavy-hitting laptops from Apple, Microsoft, Dell, and more. We weren’t told by our source what OS this would be running – though we didn’t think it would be Chrome OS. Now with this report from Android Authority, we feel confident in saying that it will run Android.

How would this help out the user? Well, with Google pushing all of its engineers onto the same platform, it could mean faster feature launching, as well as making more apps available for Android on different form factors. As you likely know, currently, Android apps on tablets are pretty sparse. This could be what Google needs to finally beat the iPad, or at least be on the same level.

Given where Google is in the development of the Pixel Tablet, we don’t believe this will be launching next year. This could be a 2026 or later project – likely later.