**Introducing Isolated Web Apps (IWAs)

ChromeOS 128 Release Notes
Stable Channel
Released to stable on September 3, 2024

Isolated Web Apps

• Isolated Web Apps (IWAs) provide a high-trusted security model for web applications, built on the foundations of web app installation and Web Packaging. They provide stronger protections against server compromise and other tampering than normal web apps, necessary for developers of security-sensitive applications.
• Rather than being hosted on live web servers and fetched over HTTPS, IWAs are packaged into Web Bundles signed by their developer, which are then distributed to end-users.
• In this initial release, IWAs are only installable using a new policy, IsolatedWebAppInstallForceList⁠, on enterprise-managed ChromeOS devices.

Snap groups on ChromeOS

• Group windows on one screen with Snap groups. When you pair two windows for split-screen display, ChromeOS now forms a Snap group. As a Snap group, you can bring the windows back into focus together, resize them simultaneously, and move them both as a group.

Geolocation privacy controls

• Manage the privacy of your geolocation access by going to the Settings>Privacy and security>Privacy controls page. You can now set geolocation access to Allowed, Only allowed for system services, or Off, depending on preference.

You can now block all apps or websites, or entire systems, regardless of previously granted permissions.

Pinned notifications on ChromeOS
ChromeOS notifications help to visually separate pinned notifications from other notifications. ChromeOS 128 significantly differentiates the visual look of pinned notifications from typical notifications to reflect their significant difference—we notify the user of an ongoing process rather than an instantaneous event.

Auto Gain Control enabled by default
Auto Gain Control (AGC) allows apps, such as video calling apps, to automatically optimize microphone volume for best audio quality. When auto gain control is enabled and in-use, a message appears in the quick settings panel to inform the user that the microphone gain slider is being overridden. AGC is enabled by default in ChromeOS 128. If you want to manually control the microphone volume even for apps that support AGC, you can go to Settings > Device > Audio and deselect Allow apps to automatically adjust mic volume.

Access Point Name (APN) management
For ChromeOS cellular-enabled devices, we have made it easier to view, manage, and add Access Point Names (APNs). We’ve also improved registration failure handling and messaging.stem services, or Off, depending on preference.

• You can now block all apps or websites, or entire systems, regardless of previously granted permissions.

ChromeOS privacy control reminders

• To use cameras and microphones on ChromeOS, you need to turn on both privacy controls and app permissions in two separate places. We now provide actionable reminders on the ChromeOS Apps settings page so you can have a smoother experience. View the ChromeOS Apps settings page by going to Settings > Apps > Manage your Apps and selecting the desired app.

OCR in ChromeOS Camera App

• Copy and search text from images, speak text from images by screen reader, and create searchable PDFs from images—now within the ChromeOS Camera App. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) enables text extraction from images captured in the ChromeOS Camera App by integrating an ML-powered text extraction service. ChromeOS 128 supports 77 languages; it also supports horizontal and vertical detection.

Also released in ChromeOS 128

• A new look for pinned notifications—and improvements to Auto Gain Control (AGC)—help provide an improved user experience to ChromeOS.

Pinned notifications on ChromeOS

• ChromeOS notifications help to visually separate pinned notifications from other notifications. ChromeOS 128 significantly differentiates the visual look of pinned notifications from typical notifications to reflect their significant difference—we notify the user of an ongoing process rather than an instantaneous event.

Auto Gain Control enabled by default

• Auto Gain Control (AGC) allows apps, such as video calling apps, to automatically optimize microphone volume for best audio quality. When auto gain control is enabled and in-use, a message appears in the quick settings panel to inform the user that the microphone gain slider is being overridden. AGC is enabled by default in ChromeOS 128. If you want to manually control the microphone volume even for apps that support AGC, you can go to Settings > Device > Audio and deselect Allow apps to automatically adjust mic volume.

Access Point Name (APN) management

• For ChromeOS cellular-enabled devices, we have made it easier to view, manage, and add Access Point Names (APNs). We’ve also improved registration failure handling and messaging.

Admin-configurable site search

• Site search shortcuts are a way to use the address bar (Omnibox) as a search box for a specific site without navigating directly to the site’s URL, similar to how you can use the Omnibox to perform a broad Google search of the web. You can now create site shortcuts on behalf of your managed users, to shortcut to the most critical enterprise sites. You can control this feature using the Site Search Settings⁠ policy.

Data processor mode: EU-wide rollout

• New data processor mode features and ChromeOS terms are available to the entire EU through the Google Admin console. As a ChromeOS administrator, you can now activate Data processor mode, which covers a set of ChromeOS features and services called Essential Services.

Store aggregated vitals data with one-year retention

• From ChromeOS 128 onwards, we store aggregated vitals data for one-year retention to better track the progress over time. Vitals data includes Android app performance metrics, such as crash rate. These metrics will help us improve Android app performance on ChromeOS devices.