Android XR and ChromeOS could be a match made in heaven

Recently announcement to take on devices like the Meta Quest, Apple Vision Pro and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Android XR looks impressive so far. With support for full VR apps and everyday AR glasses, it seems the sky is the limit for what Google might be able to accomplish with Android XR as products begin shipping in 2025.

While Meta definitely needs some real competition in the VR space (sorry Apple, but $3,500 headsets hardly count as serious competition in a vertical that Meta entirely owns at the moment) and I’m extremely excited about the prospect of AR glasses usable by everyone. day, every day; there is a portable screen application that we haven’t talked about too much yet with Android XR.

Office productivity with ChromeOS

Sure, having a few open Android apps floating in space around you would be cool, but wouldn’t it be much more productive if Android XR headsets worked seamlessly with Chromebooks to deliver the productive, windowed ChromeOS experience in virtual space?

I like to imagine a future in which a not-completely-ridiculous headset could be part of my daily carry, sitting on my head while I work, and could seamlessly provide a multi-monitor setup for my Chromebook wherever I am. With expansive screens being the main reason I love working at my desk, this type of feature would completely shake up my workflow in the best way.

With plenty of rumors and speculation about what Google is doing with ChromeOS and Chromebooks moving forward on the Android core, this could be one of the places where this move toward deeper cohesion makes sense. If Android is going to be at the heart of the Chromebook experience (literally at the core level), then deep integration between ChromeOS and Android XR is not only possible, but perhaps even likely.

For what it’s worth, as I’ve really marinated in all the Android-ChromeOS speculation, I really think a lot of the rumors around ChromeOS replacing Android are going a little too far. Instead, I think ChromeOS will likely remain in upgraded form and simply adopt some of Android’s underlying features. This will make cross-platform apps much simpler, and that kind of cohesion would absolutely extend to something like Android XR.

I don’t know if we’ll see the type of setup I’m dreaming of with Android XR and current versions of ChromeOS, but I think the Android core on Chromebooks could easily benefit from this type of collaboration. solution. And it would be epic! At least maybe this message will reach the right person who could go ahead and start this project for the future. As ChromeOS and Android get closer and closer in the coming months, I see no reason why Android XR can’t integrate and take full advantage of it.