Google redesigns downloads as notification center cards in Chrome OS beta release

For those with Chrome OS devices like Chromebooks, there’s a new look to try out for files that you download.

Google has done away with the progress bar at the bottom of Chrome that featured in an early version of Chrome OS. The operating system now shows the status of downloads as cards in the notification center near the bottom right corner of the screen in the Chrome OS beta channel release that shipped yesterday. The update is also available in the less stable dev channel.

To turn on the feature, you have to manually enter the flag “chrome://flags/#enable-download-notification” and select “Download Status in Notification Center Chrome OS.”

With this change, you no longer need to click to make the progress bar disappear, as ChromeStory reported earlier today. The download status shows up, you can hit pause or cancel, and once it’s downloaded, the file sits in the notification center, waiting for you to open it or hit the button to show it in its folder. In other words, a download causes less of a disturbance while you’re browsing.

It’s a welcome change for the Internet-centric computing experience on the Chromebook.

The Chromium developer who proposed it in January suggested that “at first, we do it only on ChromeOS behind flags to collect feedback.” In other words, it’s possible that the change could at some point make its way to other devices that can run Chrome, like Mac and Windows machines.