Google is rolling out the April update to ChromeOS users with features like the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts and mouse button actions. The update also brings improved offline text-to-speech voice support. The ChromeOS M123 update is rolling out to users over the next few days.
Let’s go through these new features. The main new feature is a way to assign custom keyboard shortcuts to actions. It’s a feature that has been available in other desktop systems.
However, users will need to turn on this feature manually by enabling a setting flag called “#enable-shortcut-customization”. The company said that the keyboard customization shortcut will be enabled by default with the next ChromeOS update M124.
![ChromeOS Keyboard customization](https://i0.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ChromeOS-keyboard-customization.jpeg?resize=680%2C416&ssl=1)
With the ChromeOS M123 update, users can assign custom keyboard shortcuts according to their usage Image Credits: Google
With this update, Google is also allowing users to customize mouse button actions. If you have a mouse with more than two buttons, you can assign them for tasks like taking a screenshot, muting, unmuting, and inserting emojis. Plus, you can set a dedicated key combination for an action performed by a keyboard shortcut.
![ChromeOS lets you assign actions to additional buttons on your mouse](https://i0.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Chromebook-custom-mouse-button.jpeg?resize=680%2C416&ssl=1)
ChromeOS lets you assign actions to additional buttons on your mouse Image Credits: Google
The ChromeOS M123 update also has a few smaller upgrades such as the ability to change preferred languages per Android app through “Settings > Apps > Manage your apps > App language”; and an improved text-to-speech feature with a voice that should sound more natural. It supports 31 languages and it works when you’re offline.