Google first introduced Smart Text Selection with Android 8.0 Oreo. It has two core components. When the user taps on a word the feature automatically selects the entire phrase and it then suggests relevant actions based on what has been selected. For example, a link to Google Maps comes up with an address is selected. This feature will soon be available in Chrome OS as well.
It’s not surprising to see that this feature is making its way to Chrome OS given that the entire Android ecosystem is now available on Chrome OS. The flag for the Smart Text Selection feature is available in the latest Canary channel build of Chrome OS. The description mentions that the feature “shows quick actions for text selections in the context menu.”
Even though the chrome://flags/#smart-text-selection flag is now available in the Canary build, a report suggests that the feature doesn’t work even after the flag is enabled and the device is restarted. So it may take some time before Google enables this feature in the Canary build.
It’s going to take a bit longer for this feature to arrive in the stable build but at least this confirms that the feature will eventually make its way to all Chrome OS users.
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