Google Chrome Is Finally Coming To ARM64 Linux (nerds.xyz) 35
BrianFagioli writes: Google says it will finally release Chrome for ARM64 Linux in the second quarter of 2026, bringing the company's full browser to a platform that has existed for years without official support. Until now, Linux users running Arm hardware have largely relied on Chromium builds or unofficial packages if they wanted something close to Chrome. Google says the new build will include the same features found on other platforms, including Google account syncing, Chrome Web Store extensions, built-in translation, Safe Browsing protections, and Google Password Manager.
The timing reflects how ARM hardware is becoming more common across the Linux ecosystem, from developer laptops to AI systems. Google also pointed to NVIDIA's DGX Spark, a compact AI supercomputing device built on the Grace Blackwell architecture, which will support installing Chrome through NVIDIA's package management tools. For many Linux users, the announcement feels like a "finally" moment, as ARM64 Linux systems have been widespread for years despite the absence of an official Chrome build.
The timing reflects how ARM hardware is becoming more common across the Linux ecosystem, from developer laptops to AI systems. Google also pointed to NVIDIA's DGX Spark, a compact AI supercomputing device built on the Grace Blackwell architecture, which will support installing Chrome through NVIDIA's package management tools. For many Linux users, the announcement feels like a "finally" moment, as ARM64 Linux systems have been widespread for years despite the absence of an official Chrome build.
Re: Will it (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Hate to tell you, but they all do.
Just don't log it into your Gmail account, or ever connect the computer to the internet.
If your that paranoid, don't go online... toss your phone, tablet, desktop, house, car, bank into the nearest woodchipper, and get a tarp and go live in the nearest forest... they can still see your brain, so tinfoil hat is a must.
Re: (Score:1)
grr... *your should be you're
Sigh. (Score:5, Funny)
"We threw it through a different cross-compiler on our compile farm, now you should all praise us"
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
"We threw it through a different cross-compiler on our compile farm, now you should all praise us"
If only 32-bit to 64-bit ports were that simple. :-) They should be, but mostly they are not.
Re: (Score:3)
Of the Chromium base code?
They are literally that simple, it's an extreme example of well-established cross-platform code for... what... a decade, decade and a half now? Everything from Chromebooks and Android to Windows and Linux.
-- used to cross-compile all my code - and others - to half a dozen platforms, including ARM, 32- and 64-.
Granted if it was code never intended to port and was doing all sorts of nonsense low-level optimisation tricks, sure, but Chromium? No. They just cross-compile and target
Shouldnt even need a cross compiler (Score:2)
Assuming it doesn't contain any embedded x86 assembler and just uses standard C/C++ libraries that are available for both architectures then there should be no reason it can't just be recompiled for Arm.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Shouldnt even need a cross compiler (Score:2)
It was already building for Arm platforms. Iâ(TM)m sure they have NEON optimisations somewhere in there.
Honest question (Score:5, Insightful)
Is anyone interested enough to run Linux on ARM64 dumb enough to want this?
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm holding out for Edge
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Honest question (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. There are some who run on ARM64 and would use this.
Re: (Score:2)
Some streaming sites really don't play well with Firefox.
Re:Honest question (Score:5, Interesting)
Aren't other browsers like Chromium and Brave already available on Linux? What exactly would Google Chrome on it add?
Also, how is this this happening only now? ChromeOS, along w/ Chrome, has been available on Snapdragon based Chromebooks - I have one, so it's not like Google couldn't have had one for Linux/Arm8 all this while
Re: (Score:3)
Google thinks it's missing out on data they could sell to advertisers.
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'Chrome' on ChromeOS is more a UI wrapper around the system Chromium engine rather than a "real" Chrome?
I liken this akin to 'sudo apt install google-chrome-stable' from ChromeOS' Linux container.
(I read a blog once where they were trying to de-couple Chrome so it could be updated independently of ChromeOS support cycle so that unsupported Chromebooks would still get browser updates long into the future.)
Re: (Score:1)
What it means is that Google feels that ARM is finally coming to the masses who *don't* know better than to run Chrome.
Oh Thank God (Score:3)
Wait. Do I care?
I'd rather use Chromium.
Why so long? (Score:1)
Google's been pushing out Chrome with Apple Silicon support since 2020. It's not like it's been impossible to build for ARM64.
That said, I still won't be using it.
Re: (Score:2)
What hardware/OS are you running this on? (Score:2)
Re:What hardware/OS are you running this on? (Score:4, Insightful)
The intended audience is advertisers. The demographic is small, but so effort required to acquire the data.
Re: (Score:2)
Karakuchi!
My laptop is ARM64 (Score:5, Insightful)
I run Debian 13 and Chromium has been available as a package for a long time.
So I'm not sure why you would want to wait for Google to release Chrome on ARM, since it's essentially Chromium with Google's nastyware added to it. Just use Chromium.
Re:My laptop is ARM64 (Score:4, Informative)
Un-Googled Chromium doesn't get access to certain DRM-encumbered subscription-based streaming sites like Netflix, etc.; basically anything that requires the Widevine plugin to access content. Same as if you forget to check the "Play DRM-controlled content" checkbox in Firefox. Granted you can also make a Google-ified Chromium build instead, but this is beyond the technical expertise of the average user and kinda ruins the point of running Chromium in the first place.
Firefox (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been using FreeBSD on ARM64/Aarch64 for years now. Firefox has been there all along, working exactly as one would expect, no different than X86/AMD64 counterparts.
Why the hell did it take Chrome so long to catch up?
Chromium isn't Chrome (Score:2)
Not sure what all posts about "Chromium something something" are about. Chrome has 65-80% market share. Most of what's left is Safari, with the rest being mostly in the noise. I'm sure Chromium runs on all these platforms, yet approximately nobody prefers it. Yes, Chromium or Firefox would do fine. But all the "[gasp] why people would want Chrome when Chromium and Firefox exist" posts are pointless, people just do.
The bigger question (Score:2)
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Aarch64 has taken off in the data center too. ARM is king of mobile, competing hard at the top, and thanks to Apple is a solid competition at everything in between.
Now, why does it not take off elsewhere? Microsoft's ARM implementation kinda still royally sucks ass. Also, the hardware still kinda royally sucks ass.
Are these being improved upon? At least the latter, yes. ARM themselves are pushing for what they're calling "SystemReady", where ARM based systems use UEFI+ACPI for initialization. A huge part of