Chromebook update finally brings document scanning, Live Caption, and more

Chromebooks are getting some beneficial tools with this latest release.

What you need to know

• Google is releasing a new update to Chromebooks that adds a few new features.
• Chromebooks will soon gain a diagnostics tool and Live Captions.
• Users will be able to send scanned documents straight to their Chromebooks.

Google is rolling out a new update today for the best Chromebooks to add several new features to the machines. One of the most significant additions to the update is Live Caption, which has already rolled out on the Chrome browser for other desktop OSes. The feature will now roll out to “most Chrome OS devices” soon and be available through the accessibility settings. For now, if you own machines with any other OS, we can show you how to enable Live Caption in Google Chrome for desktop.

More immediate features coming to Chromebooks include the updated Launcher, which now has a more useful Everything Button. Users can type in any type of queries such as weather, stocks, or calculations, and the results will pop up immediately instead of having to open the Chrome browser.

A new diagnostics tool is also rolling to all Chromebooks and should come in handy whenever your device isn’t running quite right. With the new Diagnostics app, users can run tests on their devices to check the battery, CPU, or RAM status. The app will provide users with helpful support links and even save test results which can be useful when dealing with support representatives.

This last one is a bit of a head-scratcher, but the update will finally give Chromebooks the ability to receive scanned documents straight from a printer. The Scan app will allow users to select their settings, and when the document is received, users can save it in a dedicated folder or open and edit it in an image viewer. This functionality will only work through WiFi and USB at the moment, so Bluetooth is unfortunately out of the question.

Many of these new features should start rolling today on Chromebooks. However, the Live Caption feature will take a few weeks to arrive, and not every Chromebook will support the feature, unfortunately.