ChromeOS is evolving into an increasingly operating system mature, but there is one aspect that Google has only recently addressed: i sounds (do you know how ChromeOS works? Take a look at our guide to discover the GrandeG operating system).
Until September 2023 in fact the Chromebooks were not equipped with any system soundwhich not only made them out of hand, but also made them more difficult for users with visual difficulties.
But now your laptop with operating system made in Google has a series of musical effects, which are heard when you connect the charging cable or when the battery drops below a certain level percentage, and GrandeG explained how they were created.
First of all, however, know that these sounds have not been enabled by default (unless you have never logged in to the Chromebook, in which case they will already be active), but you will have to intervene manually to be able to hear them.
To do this, make sure your Chromebook is updated to ChromeOS 117 (going in Settings and then clicking on the left at the bottom About ChromeOS).
Once this is verified, always from Settings left click on the item Device and in the central window, below Device soundsyou will find three switches: Low battery sound, Loading sounds And Device startup sound. If you want to enable sounds, turn them on.
There are three charging sounds. When you connect the computer and the battery is above 80%you will hear a chord of G major performed on the piano, based on that of Pixel devices”but with more low-frequency content to take advantage of the bass sound that the larger speakers of a ChromeOS device can offer“. Also to add a tactile sensation Henry Daw, the senior UX sound designer who created them said he added a light layer of what could be called “glittering dust“, inspired by white noise, to add a more natural effect.
When the battery is between 79 and 16%you will get a variation of the charging sound, but with a additional element more cheerful at the beginning of the sound, which wants to indicate that “the battery is a bit at an average level“.
Finally, if the battery is under the 15%the sound at the beginning is “slightly taller and more noticeable“.
The team that developed the sounds decided to use the format as the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), an audio codec open source with lossless data compression.
This format maintains the original quality of the audio while still allowing you to reduce the file to one dimension minor, and this means that changes had to be made to the audio capabilities of ChromeOS to support the reproduction of the new formatensuring that the new sound worked on different devices, regardless from the hardware.
Google says these audio signals “aid accessibility for blind and low vision users by making it easier to ascertain relative battery life without having to first check with the screen reader“, and at the same time, given the widespread use of Chromebooks in schools, GrandeG wanted the “sound and volume were useful and not distracting“.
But this is just the beginning, or as Google calls them, just the first notes of a symphony. In the blog post, GrandeG states that we can expect other musical effects as “ChromeOS is ready for any additional sounds“. So, open ears.
