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Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

blog.chromium.org

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Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#31

Post by danans »

samtheprogram wrote: post #3

I'm confused, how does Chrome work on ARM64 Android phones today?

The reason they didn't release Chrome for arm64 Linux almost certainly wasn't about technical feasibility, but rather about it being worth the support costs.

The Android arm64 Chrome build is clearly worth it to them, as is the Chrome build for ARM Chromebooks.

Before this point they probably didn't think that arm64 Linux was a worthwhile target to support (especially since Chromium was available on arm64 Linux anyways).

I'm not sure what has changed in the desktop/laptop ARM Linux market that changed their minds - or maybe they want to put their shoulder behind that market.

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#32

Post by cmrdporcupine »

xupybd wrote: post #29
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #26

I recently switched to using an NVIDIA Spark as my primary workstation and lack of Chrome binaries for it are what finally pushed me to completely sever my relationship with Chrome and switch to Firefox. Sorry, Google. Too late! (Bonus: ad blocking properly works).

What is it like using a Spark as a workstation?

Just like any other Ubuntu machine, really. Just lots (128GB) of RAM and relatively lots of cores (10 efficiency, 10 performance). It's not screaming fast, but it's absolutely fast enough for anything I need to do and it's got insanely fast networking options if I need them.

I like it, and the local AI options make it fun enough, too.

Apart from a few hassles. No pre-packaged Discord or Slack or Chromium or Spotify are the only things I've run into really.

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#33

Post by oofbey »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #25
oofbaroomf wrote: post #23

Wait... weren't there many ARM Chromebooks already?

Sure, and when I worked at Google on Chromecast there was also that build of Chromium. All of that is very different from The G actually providing a packaged official Chrome build, though. Which for some reason they couldn't be bothered to do before (Firefox exists though)

Couldn’t be bothered - the Google way. Nobody ever got promoted for doing something easy and useful.

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#34

Post by oofbey »

danans wrote: post #31
samtheprogram wrote: post #3

I'm confused, how does Chrome work on ARM64 Android phones today?

The reason they didn't release Chrome for arm64 Linux almost certainly wasn't about technical feasibility, but rather about it being worth the support costs. The Android arm64 Chrome build is clearly worth it to them, as is the Chrome build for ARM Chromebooks. Before this point they probably didn't think that arm64 Linux was a worthwhile target to support (especially since Chromium was available on arm64 Linux anywa…

Support? This is Google!

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#35

Post by jamesfinlayson »

emilbratt wrote: post #9

I have been waiting... so many years for this. Like, I figured it would never come. So happy to be wrong. Wonder if it will work well on Raspberry Pi and also if it will come with Hardware Video Acceleration out of the box.

Me too. Trying to get Chrome to run in Docker on an ARM Mac was a battle that I didn't win (I didn't want to fight the battle to start with but I had to use a Mac rather than Linux).

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#36

Post by transpute » 

  Google will launch Chrome for ARM64 Linux devices in Q2 2026, following the successful expansion of Chrome to Arm-powered macOS devices in 2020 and Arm-powered Windows devices in 2024.. Google is partnering with NVIDIA to make it easier for DGX Spark users to install Chrome.
Will be useful in isolated Debian Linux pKVM Arm VM with accelerated vGPU, in Android-ChromeOS converged desktop on Qualcomm Arm laptops. Possibly Nvidia-Mediatek Arm laptops, if they support h/w nested virt for pKVM/AVF.

Android desktop mode: https://x.com/sahajsarup/status/2031963143082295610

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#38

Post by swisniewski »

xupybd wrote: post #29
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #26

I recently switched to using an NVIDIA Spark as my primary workstation and lack of Chrome binaries for it are what finally pushed me to completely sever my relationship with Chrome and switch to Firefox. Sorry, Google. Too late! (Bonus: ad blocking properly works).

What is it like using a Spark as a workstation?

I use a DGX spark, with Cosmic as my DE, and it's super awesome.

This is a bit of a franekin-distro, as it's ubuntu + nvdia packgages + system 76 packages, but it works pretty well.

I've been using Flatpack chromium, which is ok for most things. It performs a bit better than Firefox does. Having access to official Chrome will be nice though, as it should come with Widevine support. Chromium doesn't support DRM, so some things like Netflix don't work.

Re: Bringing Chrome to ARM64 Linux Devices

#40

Post by danans »

oofbey wrote: post #34
danans wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason they didn't release Chrome for arm64 Linux almost certainly wasn't about technical feasibility, but rather about it being worth the support costs. The Android arm64 Chrome build is clearly worth it to them, as is the Chrome build for ARM Chromebooks. Before this point they probably didn't think that arm64 Linux was a worthwhile target to support (especially since Chromium was available on arm64 Linux anywa…

Support? This is Google!

Support in this context means bugfixing, performance/crash testing across devices and chipsets, security updates, etc, not "phone/email support".
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