I’ve been trying to find a good Sudoku game for my Chromebook running ChromeOS, but they’re all for Android, which means they run in tiny little windows, instead of on my full display. Maybe I’m out of luck? More importantly, how do I delete the Android apps I’ve installed?
One of the most frustrating aspects of the way Google has implemented the Play Store on ChromeOS is that it doesn’t indicate what apps are designed for Chromebook, which can expand to fill the full screen, which are true Chrome apps with the ability to be a floating window rather than fullscreen, and, as you highlight, apps that are going to run in the Android (phone screen) simulator.
Younger Chromebook users might be perfectly fine having small vertically oriented games and utilities that run as part of the Chromebook experience, of course, in which case they do indeed have thousands of additional games, programs, and much more from which to choose. For those of us who prefer bigger displays, this inability for the Play Store to indicate – or filter out! – these Android emulator apps might just remain a frustrating aspect of using ChromeOS.
But be that as it may, your Chromebook will work best if you occasionally go through the list of apps and remove (or “uninstall”, as techies like to say it) apps and games that you don’t use. This saves space on your drive, but it also helps ensure that you don’t inadvertently leave security holes too.
FINDING SETTINGS IN CHROMEOS
To start, you’ll need to get to the Settings area in ChromeOS. This isn’t the same as the settings in the Chrome browser, however, so the easiest way to ensure you’re at the right spot is to open up the notifications window by clicking on the time on the lower right of the Shelf. Here’s what I see on my Lenovo Chromebook:
Notice this offers lots of handy shortcuts, including for volume and brightness, as long as buttons for switching Wi-Fi networks, managing Bluetooth, screen capture, and much more. Most importantly, along the top are some smaller icons, including the gear icon highlighted. That’s the shortcut to Settings. Click on it.
There are lots and lots of settings you can access!
Scroll down on the left side until you see “Apps” and click on it…
APP SETTINGS IN CHROMEOS
There are a number of interesting settings and, finally, a way to disable the “Restore apps” every time you restart:
To remove apps, you want to “Manage your apps”. Click on the “>” adjacent to that entry and it’ll switch to a list of apps that are installed on your Chromebook:
To play along, I’ve also tried to install a few Sudoku apps and see exactly what you mean; they’re just not very good and they’re all pretty small on even a typical Chromebook display. Pick an app you want to uninstall and click on it. For example:
Before you click on the “Uninstall” notice that each ap allows you to “Pin to shelf”, enable or disable notifications (let’s be honest, some apps just have too many notifications!), and can be granted permissions or you can revoke them, as desired. Now, click on “Uninstall“…
Ready? Click “Uninstall” and it’s removed from your computer. Done.
FINALLY, A SUDOKU THAT WORKS IN CHROMEOS
There might be better choices, but I have found that the Sudoku versions that work within Chrome Browser are probably the best and easiest to work with. For example, free-play-sudoku.com:
Now, back to my puzzle!
Helpful Tip: I’ve been writing about Chromebook systems for many years! Please check out my extensive Chromebook help area for hundreds of useful tutorials and guides! Thanks.
