One of the biggest shortcomings of Chrome OS, and a drawback to using a mobile and web-first operating system, is applications that don’t act like desktop software should. Google is working to remedy this, according to 9to5Google, with an upcoming update to Chrome OS that should make Android apps run smoothly in the background. Currently, these apps — part of Google’s broader push to unify certain aspects of Android and Chrome — will pause if you switch away from them, creating some issues for people who like to heavily multitask on desktop.
Chrome Unboxed has learned that the Chrome OS 64 beta introduces Android Parallel Tasks, which lets Android apps run at full bore regardless of what you're doing. You could watch a video in a mobile app while you're surfing the web, or take a break from a mobile game without jarring transitions.
There's no guarantee that Android Parallel Tasks will reach the stable Chrome OS 64, so you might not want to plan a purchase around the feature. With that said, it's hard to imagine Google leaving this out. This is a major step toward Android becoming fully integrated with Chrome OS, and arguably a step toward making Chrome OS behave like you'd expect if you're coming from a more conventional computing platform.
