Google is rolling out an April update to ChromeOS users with features like the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts and mouse button actions. This update also improves offline text-to-speech voice support. The ChromeOS M123 update will be rolled out to users over the next few days.
Let's take a look at these new features. The main new feature is a way to assign custom keyboard shortcuts to actions. This is a feature also available on other desktop systems.
However, users must manually enable this feature by enabling a configuration flag called “#enable-shortcut-customization”. The company said that in the next ChromeOS update M124, keyboard customization shortcuts will be enabled by default.
ChromeOS M123 update allows users to assign custom keyboard shortcuts based on usage Image credit: Google
With this update, Google will allow users to customize the behavior of mouse buttons. If you have a mouse with two or more buttons, you can assign them to tasks like taking a screenshot, muting, unmuting, and inserting emojis. Additionally, you can set special key combinations for actions performed by keyboard shortcuts.
ChromeOS allows you to assign actions to additional mouse buttons Image credit: Google
The ChromeOS M123 update also has some small upgrades, including the ability to change the preferred language for each Android app via Settings > Apps > Manage apps > App language. and improved text-to-speech functionality with more natural-sounding voices. It supports 31 languages and works offline.