Google's Chrome OS Dev Channel Releases Cause Google Docs Issues

Google recommends that affected users revert to an earlier Chrome OS Dev Channel release until issues are resolved.

Not so fast, Chrome OS developers. Google's latest developer's release of its Chrome OS device operating system is causing problems for Google Docs users, so developers are being urged to revert to an earlier version until the issues are resolved.

The problem was unveiled in an April 23 post by Danielle Drew of the Google Chrome team on the Chrome Releases blog.

"Oops! Dev-channel 28.0.1485.1 isn't quite ready for prime time," wrote Drew in her post. "We found a bug (234729) that seems to be causing trouble for Google Docs users. Sorry about the inconvenience! If this issue is affecting you and you'd like to revert to an older dev-channel version, you can restore your Chromebook to the latest Stable version and then switch channels back to dev."

The latest developer's channel version 28.0.1485.1 is for all Chromebooks and contains a number of bug fixes and feature enhancements, including the ability to rotate and scale the user interface on Chromebooks, highlighting capabilities so users can see which link or button they have pressed, and several improvements to the Files app, according to Google.

Among the known issues that are still being worked on is a problem with Bluetooth devices that are shown as not connected when they actually are connected, as well as the inability to see the contents of SD cards or USB devices when they are connected to Chromebooks, according to the post.

In a related matter, the Chrome Web browser for Apple's iOS has been updated to version 26.0.1410.53, according to an April 24 post by Jason Kersey of the Chrome team on the Chrome Releases blog. The new iOS Chrome browser release contains security and stability fixes and is now being rolled out in the App Store for installation by users, wrote Kersey.

Google recently announced related new Chrome OS and Chrome browser updates for other users earlier this month, according to a recent eWEEK report. Those releases included the latest Version 26 stable edition of Chrome OS for all devices, as well as the latest Version 26 of the Chrome browser and the latest Chrome Beta for Android offering.

Earlier in April, Google released Chrome 26 for Android, the newest stable version of its free Web browser that fully integrates with the Android mobile operating system. The latest version introduced several features, including password synchronization, autofill synchronization, and a variety of other performance and stability improvements.

Chrome for Android provides a customized version of the popular browser that is built to run specifically on Android devices. The previous version of Chrome for Android was release 25, which debuted in late February and included expanded support for HTML5, improved scrolling performance and faster interactive pages.

Chrome celebrated its fourth birthday in September 2012 and has accomplished a lot since its launch. In June 2012, Chrome surpassed Microsoft's Internet Explorer as the world's most used browser for the first time, and it has added lots of useful features and strengths over the years to encourage even more users to adopt it.