It’s been almost a year since we discovered the new Chrome OS project called ‘Lacros’. Although Lacros’ goal was not initially clear, it was clear that Google was working on some way to undermine the Chrome browser of the Chrome operating system to allow the two software to live harmoniously, but send updates independently. My first thought was that Lacros could be a method by which Chrome could continue to get updates beyond the end of a device’s life. This would allow users with capable hardware the ability to continue browsing the web safely and securely with the latest browser updates.
As it has evolved, Lacros has taken a turn towards something more viable for use in the stable Chrome OS environment. The Chrome build specific to the Chrome Chromebook has been updated frequently and is now almost indistinguishable from the built-in Chrome browser that has been at the core of Chrome OS for over a decade. One of the most recent clues to the future of Lacros on Chrome OS came when the Chrome development team announced that the Chrome browser would soon move into a 4-week update cycle. If Lacros separates the browser from Chrome OS, it could theoretically follow the same update schedule as the desktop version of Chrome, while Chrome OS receives feature and security updates as needed or planned by the developers. In my humble opinion, this theory was greatly reinforced when CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted in a not-so-subtle way that it was time to update the browser on his beloved Google Cr-48 Chromebook.
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The latest development of Lacros was discovered by Dinsan Francis of Chrome Story and gives even more weight to the idea that this could be the default browser for future builds of Chrome OS. The discovery comes in the form of a commit labeled “Add feature flag to control the main browser on Chrome OS”. The description of the flag is a bit vague, but delving into the comments reveals that the “main browser” in question is, in fact, Lacros.
Use Lacros-chrome as the main browser on Chrome OS. This flag is ignored if Lacros support is disabled.
Chrome repository
This commit points out that Lacros as the main browser is ignored if Lacros support is disabled. This is because, in its current state, Lacros is disabled by default. As soon as this flag reaches the Canary channel, activating it should cause Lacros-Chrome to start by clicking on a link that would normally open the Chrome native browser. In addition, another flag related to Lacros appeared on the Canary channel that adds PWA support Lacros. This will be a necessary piece of the puzzle if Lacros wants to deal with the current workload of the integrated Chrome browser. After all, a PWA on a Chromebook is simply a chic instance of Chrome wrapped in a custom skin. All of these pieces are the nail in the coffin, as far as I’m concerned. I really believe that Lacros will end up being the default Chrome browser on Chrome OS when it finally makes its official appearance. Stay tuned.
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