Skip to main content

Google launches final version of Chrome Remote Desktop

remote screen
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Detailed on the official Google Chrome Blog, the development team behind Chrome has pushed Chrome Remote Desktop out of beta and the extension is now available for download on the Chrome Web Store. Ideal for remote computer access between families, the Chrome extension allows a user to remotely access a computer at another location. For example, a tech savvy college student living on campus will be able to connect to their parent’s computer to provide troubleshooting support without having to travel back home. Small businesses could also utilize the free extension in order to provide IT support to employees.

Chrome Remote DesktopGoogle has been testing the extension in beta format over the last twelve months and the launch of the public version brings a couple new features into the mix. Chrome Remote Desktop users can now use a real time audio feed to listen to music stored on a computer in another location. This feature could be ideal for accessing music on a significant other’s home computer while away on a business trip.

The development team has also added the ability to transfer files between the remote and local computer. Rather than downloading a spyware removal tool to a computer through remote access, a user could simply transfer the installation file to the remote computer.

After installing the extension on both the local and remote computers, the user of the remote computer chooses to share their desktop by generating a unique 12-digit access code and providing that number to the other party. The other user enters the access code and the connection is created between the two computers. Regarding future additions to the extension, Google product manager Stephen Konig stated “We have more features in the works that will make Chrome Remote Desktop even more powerful.” Chrome Remote Desktop can also be useful to anyone utilizing a Chromebook in order to access content on a more powerful laptop sitting at work or home.

Editors' Recommendations

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
Google might finally have an answer to Chat GPT-4
ChatGPT versus Google on smartphones.

Google has announced the launch of its most extensive artificial intelligence model, Gemini, and it features three versions: Gemini Ultra, the largest and most capable; Gemini Pro, which is versatile across various tasks; and Gemini Nano, designed for specific tasks and mobile devices. The plan is to license Gemini to customers through Google Cloud for use in their applications, in a challenge to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Gemini Ultra excels in massive multitask language understanding, outperforming human experts across subjects like math, physics, history, law, medicine, and ethics. It's expected to power Google products like Bard chatbot and Search Generative Experience. Google aims to monetize AI and plans to offer Gemini Pro through its cloud services.

Read more
Chrome is still a RAM killer, but this new feature would be a huge help
Google Chrome icon in mac dock.

Google’s Chrome browser is infamous for consuming a lot of RAM. While recent updates have attempted to solve this problem from a technical side, a new feature may put more of the management in the hands of the user.
With the latest beta version of Chrome Canary, users can now simply hover their mouse cursor over a tab to gain access to real-time memory usage of that specific tab.
Up until now, you had to dig into the Chrome Task Manager to see how much memory each tab is consuming. But as reported by Windows Central, the new feature would give you quick and direct access to this important information. The prototype feature was first posted on X (formerly Twitter) by user Leopeva64 and showed the tab RAM usage.

Of course, it only gives a small overview and doesn’t offer the same detailed information (such as running processes, tabs, and extensions0 as the built-in task manager.
Practically speaking, having a small indicator on the top is going to make the process of clearing unwanted tabs a lot easier. The new feature is also said to inform users about whether Chrome's Memory saver feature has actively frozen a tab to save memory similar to Microsoft Edge's Sleeping tabs feature. Of course, this feature only works when a certain tab is inactive for a long period of time. 
Google is said to be testing this feature, but if you are using version 117 on the Stable Channel, you may get access to it. To enable the memory usage feature, head to Chrome://flags and search for Show memory usage in hovercards. Select the dropdown and enable it. A quick restart may also be required.
Recently, we saw Google testing on a feature that helps organize tabs in a more efficient way. Using the Organize Tabs features, the browser attempts to reorder your tabs into groups of similar pages. It even lets you rename these groups, and create tab groups automatically once it has categorized your tabs.

Read more
Google has a great idea to fix your tab chaos in Chrome
Google Drive in Chrome on a MacBook.

If you use Google Chrome and are sick of managing an unruly mass of tabs in your web browser, help may soon be at hand. That’s because Google is testing a new feature that could bring order to your tab chaos.

As spotted by Leopeva64 on X (formerly Twitter), a new edition of Google Chrome Canary (a version of Chrome that lets users test out experimental features) contains a new tool called Organize Tabs nestled in the top-left corner of the browser.

Read more