ChromeOS just copied one of Windows 11’s best features

Google is rolling out a new ChromeOS update that will make it easier to organize on-screen apps, copy text from images, and adjust camera and microphone settings on Chromebook devices.

The ChromeOS camera app now supports optical character recognition (OCR) to extract text from captured images of letters or other documents. It lets users copy or search for text in images, more easily convert images to searchable PDFs, and lets the built-in ChromeOS screen reader read text based on images. Google says its OCR supports horizontal and vertical detection in 77 languages, and it’s disabled by default in Photo mode.

Additionally, Magnifier will now work with ChromeVox — allowing the screen magnifier to automatically track words as text is read aloud, helping visually impaired people stay in their place. This feature is also disabled by default and will require both Magnifier and ChromeVox to be enabled in your device settings.

Chromebook cameras and microphones are also getting some quality of life improvements — using them requires enabling privacy controls and app permissions in two separate places, but Google has now simplified that by adding software permissions to the Apps section of the ChromeOS settings menu. There’s also a new Auto Gain Control (AGC) feature that lets apps like video calling software automatically optimize the microphone volume. This should improve audio quality on calls, and will notify users in the Quick Settings panel when the feature is replacing manual audio controls.