Google is working on making multi-window usage in Chrome OS a little more flexible. While Chromebooks are currently limited to two windows, each occupying 50 percent of the screen, it looks like users will soon be able to have one window occupy two-thirds of the screen, while the second window uses the remaining third.
As first noted by the Chrome Story blog and noted by Chrome Unboxed on Sunday, a code change in the Chromium Gerrit points to a development feature intended to “add partial splitting.” This is just an experimental flag, so its release, while likely, is not guaranteed.
The feature as it is currently being developed would reportedly still limit Chrome OS users to viewing two windows on a Chromebook screen, but would add more flexibility. Possible use cases include using the smaller window for a social media feed or using one window to extract information and another window to annotate and write down.
Exact details about the likely Chromebook feature are not yet known, but the OS is expected to provide overlay options for aligning when you drag a window to an edge. This would allow you to quickly enjoy split or two-thirds and thirds views without having to resize windows yourself.
The feature still wouldn’t make Chromebook window management as robust or versatile as Windows 11’s Snap Layouts, which provide different overlays when dragging a window, based on where you drag the window and its size, resolution, and scale. your screen.
The development feature shows that Google continues to look for ways to evolve how Chromebook users work with Windows. In April, the Chrome OS Canary experimental channel added the ability to pin a window to the top, as reported by Android Police.
