(Mirror Daily, United States) – Chrome OS has rolled out a new and very interesting update this week, reaching the 46th version of the operating system’s stable version. It brought with it several improvements and features, such as the upgraded search ability, a new Material Design injection to the gallery, and an improved Wi-Fi scanner.
As the Chrome 46 update has started coming to Android and Chrome users, it turns out that the OS has not only added a number of features, but it has also taken away some of them, surprising fans with some interesting choices for those getting the boot.
One of the discoveries was the removal of OK Google feature, which has been one of the most important on any device running Chrome or Android features ever since it was launched. Users found it really useful to be able to say OK Google and have the device respond from whatever app or website page they were running.
However, in order to be able to use this feature, users always had to keep the device’s “always listening” option activated. This is, in fact, the reason why the fun feature has disappeared, as the latest update to Chrome for desktop no longer includes the “always listening” option.
Google explained the voice search function for desktop won’t be gone for good, but the OK Google vocal command will no longer work for activation. Instead, users will access the feature by manually pressing the small mic icon added on a relative Google page.
However, this is not the first feature Chrome has ditched in the last week, as the company confirmed the notifications center service from Chrome on Windows, Mac, and Linux will also be removed. But, according to Google, not many will miss it as few people were actually using it.
Lack of users is surely not the reason was the OK Google feature was removed, however, but experts presume Google has their reasons. For those interested, it seems that the OK Google feature and the notification center are still up and running on Chrome OS devices.
According to Google, both features will remain available on this platform. Mobile users will also be able to keep on using the OK Google phrase for search activation.
Image Source: TechnoBuffalo