Sameer Samat, the president of the Android ecosystem, has confirmed that ChromeOS and Android will be merged into one operating system. This fits with Google’s recent push to make Android more big-screen friendly, such as by introducing desktop-style windowing in Android 16.
After probing his interviewer on why they were using Apple products, Samat told TechRadar: “I asked because we’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android into a single platform, and I am very interested in how people are using their laptops these days and what they’re getting done.”
ChromeOS is the operating system that runs on all Chromebook laptops, while Android is Google’s Linux-based mobile software.
Samat then clarified on X that Google is “building the ChromeOS experience on top of Android underlying technology,” as was formally announced last year. He said that the goal was to “unlock new levels of performance, iterate faster, & make your laptop + phone work better together.”
Google desperately wants to catch up with Apple
One of the main reasons for the Apple ecosystem’s popularity is the seamless integration across hardware, software, and cloud services, allowing everything to work together effortlessly. Google wants to replicate this to entice consumers away from iPhones and MacBooks and towards Chromebooks and Android devices.
Past efforts to catch up with Cupertino by introducing both Android and ChromeOS tablets were not hugely successful, as the iPad remains dominant. ChromeOS has taken something of a back seat at Google since the pandemic, when it received a flurry of updates coinciding with a surge in demand for affordable home computers.
Google’s new game plan is to unite the laptop software with its “world’s most popular OS,” as suggested by Samat’s comment that he is “interested in how people are using their laptops these days.” ChromeOS has supported Android apps for a number of years, but in June 2024, the company announced that ChromeOS would be “developed on large portions of the Android stack” from now on.
Then, in November 2024, sources told Android Authority that Google is “fully migrating ChromeOS over to Android” in a bid to compete with Apple’s iPad and better manage engineering resources. More desktop features will gradually be added to Android over time, such as support for external displays and multi-window mode.
However, becoming a greater threat to Apple is not the only benefit of Google making Android more desktop-friendly. Arm-based laptops, which share the same architecture as most Android devices, are increasing in popularity, predicted to account for 40% of the laptop market in 2029.
Despite trying to catch up with Apple in terms of integrated ecosystems, the US Department of Justice claims that Google has a monopoly in online search and online advertising. Find out what could happen if it is forced to sell the Chrome browser to curb its power.
