ChromeOS M137 goes stable, bringing new Face Control policy and more

A man on a Chromebook

Google has brought ChromeOS M137 to the stable channel, and it includes a few focused updates for users and IT admins. A key change is a new policy for managing big groups of Chromebooks. The face control accessibility tool, which Google also updated back in ChromeOS M135, now gets a vital control for managers. A new policy called FaceGazeEnabled lets them switch the feature on or off across a whole school or company.

The update also brings a new audio feature called crosstalk cancellation. It aims to create a better sound experience using just the Chromebook's built-in speakers. The software processes audio to make it seem like it is surrounding your head, not just coming from two small points. This tries to copy the feel of a surround sound system or good headphones. Any audio gets a boost, but you will notice it most when watching movies or playing games with directional sound. More accessibility tools have arrived, too. ChromeVox now has a direct keyboard shortcut, Search + O + C, that displays spoken text as braille captions on a connected display.

For the poor souls in IT, troubleshooting got a little less painful as well. A new event-based log collection system, when enabled by an admin, will automatically upload relevant logs when something specific fails, like an OS crash or a botched update. Instead of digging through mountains of data, administrators get targeted reports sent straight to them. Here's how to enable it:

Turn on the Device system log upload setting.
Turn on OS update status reporting—For the Report device OS information setting, select OS update status.
Turn on device telemetry reporting on crash information—For the Report device telemetry setting, select Crash information.

Google also keeps things sane by limiting these targeted uploads to just twice a day per device.

As usual, the update is rolling out slowly. If you do not see ChromeOS M137 for your machine yet, just be patient. This phased release lets Google find and address any issues before the update gets to everyone.