Give your Chromebook a boost by downloading Android apps onto it

Some Android apps are not compatible with all Chromebooks and may not install on these devices, but that tends to be the exception. — Marc Mueller/dpa

Notebooks and tablets that have the Chrome OS operating system have had access to a full range of software for some time.

Since it usually allows the devices to download Android apps without problem from the Play Store, that means even frequently used Microsoft products such as Office can be added to a Chromebook.

Before users can get started, they first have to go to their Chromebook's settings and enable "Install apps and games from Google Play on your Chromebook" under the Google Play Store section. To make sure this can happen, their Chrome OS version must be up to date.

If that option doesn't appear, it means the Chromebook doesn't work with Android apps, which can be the case especially for work devices.

Google adds that some apps aren't compatible with some Chromebooks and thus may not be able to be downloaded. The Chromebook also won't automatically download all the same apps as those on your phone or tablet, so users will need to download them again to the device. – dpa