Official Google Chrome OS support is now available as of 2021.2.0a14

ChrisFoulds-Unity · Apr 26, 2021

We’re excited to announce initial support for Chrome OS within the Android developer environment. Starting in Unity 2021.2.0a14 Alpha you’ll be able to add Chrome OS as a supported device alongside Android in the Unity Editor.

Chrome OS has been growing rapidly - Chromebook shipments surpassed 30 million units in 2020. We believe that adding support for Chrome OS devices presents an interesting opportunity for Android developers to further extend their game’s reach.

There are 2 new Target Architectures that have been added for Chrome OS, x86 and x86-64. Select these, in addition to the existing ARM options, to natively support the full spectrum of Chrome OS devices.

We’re also working on bringing this functionality to 2020 LTS later in the year.

You can find the all the details in the official documentation

A couple things to keep in mind:

Keyboard and mouse support:
Best practice is to write your own input controls because your app will receive all mouse and touchpad events. By default, on Chrome OS, an app will miss mouse positional updates (when a button is not pressed) and both mouse or touchpad scrolling events and button presses. By writing your own input controls you create a better user experience and can take full advantage of touchpad events. You can write your own input controls by unchecking the Chrome OS Input Emulation box.
Chrome OS also supports emulation for basic keyboard and mouse functionality. Depending on your title, the emulation functionality may be sufficient.

Windowing:
Currently, windowing will be full size only, with re-sizing to come in future releases and updates.

Monetizing your app:
Since any game on Chrome OS will go through the Play Store, monetization, including ads and in-app purchases work in the same way.

Known issues:
Considering this is launching in our 2021.2 Alpha there are a few known issues we think you should be aware of (please see the release notes and documentation for an exhaustive list).

x86 and x86_64 architectures are only supported for running on Chrome OS devices, not any other Android device with an Intel processor.

Script debugging and profiling is only supported over WiFi or Ethernet (where available).

Profiling and debugging in Android Studio will only work if your target device is in developer mode. See this document for more information. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/main/developer_mode.md

We’d also like to get feedback from the community about bugs, and other concerns. Please feel free to start new discussions in our dedicated Chrome OS forum!

NotaNaN · Apr 22, 2021

Whoa... This is big news! This deserves a blog post!

RichAllen2023 · Apr 23, 2021

Woot! I'll be downloading this when I've done my training.

dbirchinall_disced · Jun 28, 2021

Just seen the blog post, this is amazing news and perfect timing for us. Excited to get working with this.

fastrageguy · Jul 7, 2021

Suddenly, school chromebooks do not seem so bad

shochet · Oct 18, 2021

@ChrisFoulds-Unity we're interested in this project -

1. Do you know the timing of bringing this support to 2019 or 2020LTS?

2. Is there a plan to support in-app purchasing, for instance by integrating Google's PWA billing into Unity IAP? https://github.com/chromeos/pwa-play-billing

r31o · Oct 20, 2021

The editor will be supported in Chrome OS?

davidro_unity · Oct 25, 2021

@shochet Support for 2019 was released in 2019.4.31f1 and 2020 in 2020.3.17f1.
@r31o No there are no plans to support the editor natively on Chrome OS.

SuperDuperPooperGames · Nov 8, 2021

- What's the difference between x86 and x86-64? Would the x86-64 chrome support both 32 and 64 bit and thus don't need the x86 version?
- If one wants to reduce the file size, should the 2 arms be built together for android and the 2 chromes be built together? This is for sideloading not on the play store?

davidro_unity · Nov 9, 2021

SuperDuperPooperGames said: ↑

- What's the difference between x86 and x86-64? Would the x86-64 chrome support both 32 and 64 bit and thus don't need the x86 version?
- If one wants to reduce the file size, should the 2 arms be built together for android and the 2 chromes be built together? This is for sideloading not on the play store?
Click to expand...

x86 is 32 bit Intel. x86-64 is 64 bit Intel.
x86 will run on both but x86-64 will not run on a machine with a 32 bit only processor.

All architectures are supported on Chrome OS devices while ARM is only supported on Android phones/tablets.

In order to support the widest variety of hardware and platforms it is recommended to build for all architectures and select all devices for Target Devices in Player Settings.

With App Bundle support the Play store will only deliver what is necessary for the users specific device. Google splits it up into smaller deliverables for you. I hope that answers your questions.

SuperDuperPooperGames · Nov 9, 2021

davidro_unity said: ↑

x86 is 32 bit Intel. x86-64 is 64 bit Intel.
x86 will run on both but x86-64 will not run on a machine with a 32 bit only processor.

All architectures are supported on Chrome OS devices while ARM is only supported on Android phones/tablets.

In order to support the widest variety of hardware and platforms it is recommended to build for all architectures and select all devices for Target Devices in Player Settings.

With App Bundle support the Play store will only deliver what is necessary for the users specific device. Google splits it up into smaller deliverables for you. I hope that answers your questions.
Click to expand...

Thanks
- If one wants to reduce the file size, should the 2 arms be built together for android and the 2 chromes be built together? This is for sideloading not on the play store?

So am asking NOT ON THE PLAY store I'd like to side load.
Also, the x86_64 is just the 64 bit and not both 32 and 64?

davidro_unity · Nov 10, 2021

We do not officially support side loading. However if you would like an APK for each architecture I would recommend enabling the Player Settings named Split APK's by Target Architecture to create one APK for each.

Yes, x86_64 is the name for the 64 bit Intel architecture. Code compiled for x86-64 will not run on a 32 bit x86 processor.

SuperDuperPooperGames · Nov 10, 2021

ok, thanks

Foriero · Jan 26, 2022

Hi, does Unity ChromeOS support current android plugins that are dropped in the Unity Project as s code? Thanks, Marek.

davidro_unity · Jan 26, 2022

Foriero said: ↑

Hi, does Unity ChromeOS support current android plugins that are dropped in the Unity Project as s code? Thanks, Marek.
Click to expand...

Yes and maybe.

If the plugins have precompiled native libraries then you may need an update from the plugin creator with support for Android x86 and x86_64.

But otherwise plugins are expected to function normally on Chrome OS devices.

graywaskpeck8 · Jul 1, 2022

Well That Was Kinda Good

Rick66 · Aug 3, 2022

No Chromebook models supported.

My app was built with Unity 2020.3.36f1 LTS, including the settings for Chrome OS x86 and x86-64 architectures, following the official documentation.

After uploading to the Google Play Console for Internal Testing, the Device catalog reports that there are 0 supported Chromebook models, but plenty of phone and tablets are supported. Testers have successfully installed the app on phones and tablets but get the message that it’s not compatible with their Chromebook.

Can you point me to an information source that will help determine why there is no Chromebook support and what to do to remedy that?

Rick66 · Sep 17, 2022

Endahs said: ↑

Dang, I am having the same problem and see that no one responded to you. Did you get this sorted out? I'm showing 0 supported devices even though I've enabled all architectures.
Click to expand...

This is not sorted out yet.
I eventually reported this to Unity as a Bug from my App. The Unity team investigating this had problems due to the large size of the App. I created a new, simple App that only displays the text, "Hello World!" This also supports no Chromebook models at Google Play Console. I uploaded this to the Unity team last Monday and haven't heard back yet. I'll post any news I get from them and if you find anything out, please let me know!

Endahs · Sep 17, 2022

Thank you @Rick66. Any chance you're changing PlayerSettings via code, or doing custom builds? Any custom build process, like using Unity Cloud Build?

Apparently ChromeOS doesn't support Mono, so may want to check if your scripting backend is set to IL2CPP.

You've probably already checked these but just in case

Endahs · Sep 17, 2022

Oh, and the Target Devices field has to include Android AND ChromeOS. Again, you've probably already tried this, but just in case someone else has a similar issue and wants to go through the basics.

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/android-ChromeOS-building-your-application.html

Rick66 · Sep 17, 2022

Endahs said: ↑

Oh, and the Target Devices field has to include Android AND ChromeOS. Again, you've probably already tried this, but just in case someone else has a similar issue and wants to go through the basics.

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/android-ChromeOS-building-your-application.html
Click to expand...

Hi Endahs, thanks for your replies! This is my first foray into the Android world and I appreciate your help.
I used IL2CPP and am not changing Player Settings via code or doing a custom build. I included the two Android and ChromeOS devices as targets in Other Settings.

VaidasM · Sep 29, 2022

Hey @Rick66 , I'm not able to reproduce the issue. And the few times I did, it seemed like I checked the available devices the very moment after the upload is done, so it could have been Google taking few extra seconds to sort stuff out. Other than that, it seems like the devices are supported. Does everything in screenshots look similar to what you have?

My environment:

Editor:
2021.3.3f1.180
Revision: 2021.3/staging af2e63e8f9bd
Built: Wed, 11 May 2022 01:32:10 GMT

Scripting backend: IL2CPP
Architectures included: x86, x86-64
Target devices: all

Could you link me the issue that you've submitted to Unity? You can also sent me a screnshots of your Player / Build settings (Other section) to make it easier to understand the environment you're in.

Rick66 · Sep 29, 2022

Hi VaidasM, I rechecked the simple app uploaded to Google Play Console on 8 September and there are still no Chromebook models supported.

My Environment; Editor: 2020.3.38f1

Scripting backend: IL2CPP
Architectures included: ARMv7, ARM64, x86, x86-64
Target devices: all

I tried linking you to the Bug Report Portal by 'Sharing' your screen name, but that doesn't work. Here's the URL: https://unity3d.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/2/IN-14301

I will upload screen shots of the Player / Build settings (Other section). Let me know if you would like any other and thank you for your help!

VaidasM · Sep 30, 2022

@Rick66 , Ah, I see the issue here. In Unity editor >.Player Settings > Other, you have your Minimum Target API set to 31, meaning, that only the devices with Android 12 and above will be able to use this application.

Which also means, none of the ChromeOS devices qualify, as they support a maximum Android 11

To make it accessible to more devices, do use a lower API level, such as API level 22, provided older devices' hardware are able to run your app.

If that doesn't solve the issue, we can continue having the conversation!

Rick66 · Sep 30, 2022

Hi VaidasM, I believe that I tried a lower API level earlier and found the same lack of Chromebook support. I'll check that out again to be certain and report back soon.

However, since 1 August 2022 the Google Play Store info states that it requires API 31 or higher for new apps: "New apps must target Android 12 (API level 31) or higher; except for Wear OS apps, which must target Android 11 (API level 30) or higher." (https://developer.android.com/google/play/requirements/target-sdk)

How would one work around that requirement?

VaidasM · Sep 30, 2022

@Rick66 , the requirements are related to target API, not minimum API. These are two different settings. Setting target API does not limit the available device range, while minimum API does

Rick66 · Sep 30, 2022

@VaidasM, that was easy; you are correct and a dope slap for me! Setting Minimum API Level to 22 (Lollipop) allows support of 43 Chromebook devices for my simple trial app. I'm coming from the iOS side where one only sets the Target minimum iOS Version.

Thank you for your patience and help!

Endahs · Oct 2, 2022

Wasn't aware that the ChromeOS only supported up to Android 11. Very informative thread. Thank you Unity and Rick, learned a bunch here.

VaidasM · Oct 3, 2022

@Rick66 Glad that solved your issue! Happy development, all!

zzzz789 · Oct 27, 2022

Is there an official way to detect if your Unity game is running on ChromeOS?

This is all I have found thus-far: https://gist.github.com/TanaTanoi/d6a9655de74e53c0f0920d61f252fb13

VaidasM · Nov 10, 2022

zzzz789 said: ↑

Is there an official way to detect if your Unity game is running on ChromeOS?

This is all I have found thus-far: https://gist.github.com/TanaTanoi/d6a9655de74e53c0f0920d61f252fb13
Click to expand...

This would be what you're looking for:

https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Android.AndroidDevice-hardwareType.html

yeball · Jan 3, 2023

Hello guys,

i have a question about input/control. So i need disable Chrome OS emulation so unity can update mouse position and i can implement hover function thats fine, but when i disable Chrome OS Input Emulation box i cant implement gestures on trackpad because i receive only mouse click and no touch(Input.touchCount is 0 etc. touches doesnt work so i cant implement gestures at all) input like if you enable emulation box.

Any idea how can i implement hover functionality + gestures(pinch, reverse pinch etc. with touches) on trackpad? Any idea?

Thank you for any feedback that can help me or direct me how to solve this

RichAllen2023 · Jan 17, 2023

Can someone post a recent download link for the 2021 version?

hannagur · Feb 5, 2023

VaidasM said: ↑

This would be what you're looking for:

https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Android.AndroidDevice-hardwareType.html
Click to expand...

Thanks- this is great!
Is there any way to tell if it is an ARM or an Intel chromebook?
Can I use AndroidHardwareType in conjunction with this: https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/SystemInfo-processorType.html?

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