Surely many of you are already used to working with Chrome OS. Since its release, it has gained many followers as it is the dominant operating system in small notebooks. The so-called ChromeBook are one of the most versatile devices on the market. Its small dimensions make it very easy to transport, so they are perfect to use in schools or if you have to take a trip. In other words, a small but great laptop that will make us do without the smartphone.
Chrome OS Operating System
Still leading an important emerging market, there are many users who do not know of its existence or are simply unaware of all the possibilities it offers us. That it is cheap and very simple does not mean that this OS cannot adapt to our needs, and even less if we take into account that its creator is Google. So that you can get the most out of Chorme OS, here are a series of shortcuts, tricks and tutorials. All of them simple and very useful.
Essential shortcuts
Like the rest of operating systems, to facilitate interaction with the user, Chrome OS incorporates some shortcuts (key combinations) with which we can save a lot of time and many headaches. The most interesting are the following:
- Add website to favorites: Ctrl + D
- Put the cursor in the address bar: Ctrl + K
- Add “www.” and “.com” in the address bar : Ctrl + Return
- Take a screenshot: Ctrl + Switch Window
- Quickly scroll the screen while visiting a web page: Ctrl + Up / Down
If you need a special shortcut or want to gossip those that are within your reach, just press the Ctrl +? This will open a “virtual keyboard” on your Chromebook screen which, by pressing each of the keys, will show you the existing combinations with the key pressed and its corresponding function.
Add parental control
As I mentioned earlier, Chrome OS is an operating system designed for small laptops. It cannot be used for programs or requirements that require large hardware, hence it is an OS for small needs, immediate needs or for teaching.
It is very common for young students to purchase a Chromebook. They are perfect as a first laptop, they can also easily do small jobs for school (and they are the cheapest).
If you want to establish parental control on your child’s Chromebook, either to control Internet access or restrict certain websites, you just have to follow the following steps:
- Create a supervised user account. To do this, you just have to click on “Add user” on the main session start screen.
- Next, you will have to choose the user who will supervise and manage all the activities of the supervised user.
- Later, of course, you have to create the child’s profile. So that you know what your account is, it is advisable to create it with your personal name and a simple password, in this way misunderstandings will be avoided.
- To view the activity of the supervised user, just go to the administrator account and follow the following path: Configuration> Users. In case you want to restrict access to the Internet or only to certain websites, you must enable SafeSearch and open the panel of supervised users.
In short, we will release a new Chrome OS tutorial mainly aimed at synchronizing and working in parallel with Android. It will be of great help to have everything synchronized and updated.
Chrome OS Tricks and Tutorials
As I explained to you in a past tutorial, there are many advantages that Chrome OS has. This great Google OS comes installed in the smallest laptops on the market, so its use is synonymous with comfort and satisfaction.
But there are not only advantages regarding its size and versatility, since using this operating system at the same time as Android allows you to have your computer synchronized with your Android smartphone. An essential service if you are one of those who move from one device to another with great ease. This allows you to always have files and notifications synchronized, something that will get us out of trouble on more than one occasion.
This time we are going to discuss synchronization issues with Android. This way you will never lose anything when using both devices at the same time.
Using Android apps on Chrome OS
If we want to have everything synchronized, we must start by having the same applications on the devices we use. Although it may seem impossible, Android applications can also be comfortably installed and used from Chrome OS.
Today there are many Android applications that we can run on Chrome OS. To search and download them, just go to chrome.google.com/webstore . There you will find both those that are compatible with Android and those that are typical of Chrome OS.
A quick look at open apps
It is the same function that Android has. It allows us to see the applications that we have running on the laptop, in this way we can eliminate those that we do not need or navigate from one to another in an easy way.
To view them, press the « Switch Window « key. Once all the apps have been shown, to close them, just click on the “X” that appears in each window.
Control another computer through Chrome OS
If you want to work from your ChromeBook but using the functions of another computer, you can always use Remote Desktop. Thanks to this application you can, through the ChromeBook, control a Mac or a PC without problems. To be able to use this function, simply follow the following steps:
- Download the Remote Desktop application from the computer you want to control. For this go to www.google.com/chrome/webstore. When you download it, you will only have to accept the granting of permissions for said web application.
- When it is installed, you will have to choose the option ” My computers ” and click “Start”. When the installation is finished, you will have to establish a PIN code to be able to make the connection between the two computers.
- Within Chrome OS, go to applications and choose Remote Desktop. Make click on the corresponding computer (where you have downloaded the Remote Desktop application initially) and enter the PIN set to connect. Once this is done, the desktop of the remote computer will appear in the browser of your Chrome OS.
- To remove the Remote Desktop function, click on the ” Stop sharing ” option (on the remote computer or on the ChromeBook, it doesn’t matter which one).
Unlock the ChromeBook with your smartphone
In order to use this function, certain requirements must be met. You must have version 40 or higher on the ChromeBook and Android 5.0 or higher on the smartphone. From there the rest is sewing and singing.
- Within Chrome OS, you have to choose the option “Show advanced options” in the chrome: // settings section.
- Turn on the Bluetooth of the smartphone and the ChromeBook. Once this is done, scroll to the “Smart Lock” option located at the bottom of Chrome OS. Press «Configure Smart Lock».
- Bring both devices together so that they are detected and follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
- Now you can see how the ChromeBook automatically disconnects when it detects the terminal.