Google exec: ‘We’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android’

Google’s head of Android has said that the company plans to combine its mobile operating system with ChromeOS, the software that currently runs across Google’s Chromebook laptops.

Sameer Samat, president of Google’s Android ecosystem, told TechRadar that “we’re going to be combining Chrome OS and Android into a single platform.” Samat, who’s responsible for Android’s implementation across mobile, wearables, XR, TV, and auto, added that he’s “interested in how people are using their laptops these days,” suggesting he may be adding a new string to his bow.

The comment is the closest thing yet to official confirmation of a change that’s been rumored for months. In November 2024 Android Authority reported that Google is “migrating ChromeOS over to Android,” with the aim of competing with the iPad. That process may have already begun, with Google itself announcing last June that ChromeOS will now be “developed on large portions of the Android stack.” Chromebooks can already run many Android apps.

Meanwhile Android is getting a little closer to ChromeOS this year with new features including a desktop mode, resizable windows, and improved support for external displays. 

Google bringing its two operating systems under one roof makes a lot of sense on paper, allowing it to speed up feature development and work on improving functionality on tablets, where both its current OSes lag behind Apple’s iPadOS. Then again, that’s been true for a while — a merger of the two platforms was reported ten years ago in 2015, and The Verge wrote that it “makes perfect sense to bring them together” two years before that. This is a change that’s been a long time coming, but that means it might be a long time still.