Chrome OS will soon let you search for and install Linux apps from the launcher

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We’ve talked a lot about Chrome OS‘ ability to install various Linux applications. From supporting the ability to install Debian packages to some kernel modules being backported so that older Chrome OS devices can support Linux apps. There has been a lot of activity in this area in the last 12 months. This added support is a big deal for a lot of people with some saying it’s the biggest change to Chrome OS since the added support of Android apps. Now, some new details have been discovered that suggest Chrome OS will soon let you search for and install these supported Linux apps directly from the launcher.

As the list of Chrome OS devices that support Linux apps continues to grow, the company has looked into making the process of installing these apps much more user-friendly. Earlier I mentioned a piece we covered about the platform gaining the ability to install individual Debian packages using the built-in Files application. Giving the user the ability to find and manually download and install an application in this way is nice and all, but it’s not as simplified as Google wants the process to be.

As reported by Chrome Story, they have discovered a code commit in the Chromium Gerrit that mentions adding “experimental flags for crostini apt search.” There is also a bug associated with this commit that has been made public which talks about adding “APT search into Chrome OS App Launcher, so that uninstalled Linux packages and Apps can be searched for and installed via the App launcher.” The report goes on to show that the flag description from within the code made this new feature clear as day as it reads “Crostini App Search – Enable search and installation of Crostini apps in the launcher.”

Chrome OS gaining the ability to install Linux apps is one thing, but embedding an application search feature into the launcher takes this to a whole other level in my opinion. This shows that Google is serious about not only adding support but also making the UX as user-friendly as possible.