Just a few years ago, we wouldn’t expect to hear much about Chromebooks at Google’s annual developer conference. As the years have gone on since their first I/O back in 2008, the digital landscape has changed quite a bit with Chrome and Chrome OS (and, by extension, Chromebooks) becoming much more relevant and important at the annual gathering.
While there were only a handful of sessions regarding Chrome OS last year, the number has ballooned this year to include 7 sessions tagged with “Chrome OS” in the agenda, 2 others that will directly impact Chromebook users. That isn’t counting the two main keynotes, either, where some Chrome OS related news is bound to come out as well.
The sessions can change between now and the start of I/O in 3 weeks, but by now the schedule is getting pretty set. Here’s a look at the sessions that will impact Chrome and Chromebook users:
Main Keynote
Developer Keynote
Stadia and Streaming Tech: A Deep Dive
What’s New With Chrome and The Web
Adapting Android Games Beyond The Phone
Beyond Mobile: Building Flutter Apps for iOS, Android, Chrome OS, and Web
Linux For Chromebooks: Secure Development
Building Apps for the Chrome OS Ecosystem
Chrome OS Accessibility for Android Developers
Going Big: PWAs Come to Desktop and Chrome OS
Fireside Chat with Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google Senior Vice President, Platforms and Ecosystems
You can click any of those links and be taken to the session notes if you’d like a bit more info on each. Google doesn’t give away a ton of info before the sessions, so the descriptions are pretty vague right now. With exception of the Fireside Chat and the session on Stadia, all these sessions will be live-streamed, so we’ll all have the same access to info that those in attendance do. That’s one of the things I truly love about Google I/O and you can guarantee we’ll be tuning in live for every session to get new details and news out to our readers as quickly as possible.
Make no mistake: this will be a busy and news-filled couple days, so be sure to go to the main Google I/O page and get the PWA installed (just hit the 3-dot menu in Chrome and select ‘Install Google I/O 2019’ or simply select the install prompt when on mobile ) on your phone or Chromebook so you don’t miss a beat!