Some Chromebooks now run Android apps, and Orbot and Orfox work great on at least one of them (ARM-based ASUS Flip). Chromebooks have become increasingly popular in schools, some workplaces, and even for activists and journalists. Having an easily installable option for using the Tor is great news.

----- Original message ----- From: Nathan of Guardian nathan@guardianproject.info To: guardian-internal@lists.mayfirst.org Subject: Android on Chromebooks Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2016 19:29:18 -0800

I picked up an ASUS Chromebook Flip with the Rockport ARM chip, and enabled it to run the new "beta" channel that includes full support for Android apps. I have to say I am quite impressed. It is a really great combination to have the full Chrome desktop browser, with a solid keyboard and trackpad, along with access to Android apps and Google Play. The Flip itself is a 2-and-1, and having the Android apps really makes it useful as a tablet. It also seems to actually get 9-10 hours of battery life, and only cost about $250 USD.

The best news is that Orbot and Orfox run very well, allowing you to have a real Tor capability on a stock Chromebook for the first time. All of the intent launches work, and the VPN mode, too, though I think only for Android apps and not the ChromeOS itself. I am a little confused about that part.

I also tried a number of our other apps, and they all seem to be working more or less. Some apps, like StoryMaker 2, don't appear in the Play Store when I search, so they must be requiring some feature that Chromebooks aren't offering. I guess we just have to mark that as optional.

All in all, I am excited how well this works, both for our users and for myself.

+n