Off-topic

Hey! Corona has made working from home a common practice for office workers. While some companies have made working from home a standard practice, others have required their employees to return to the office. However, there are people who have to work on site and people for whom traveling is part of their daily business. How about you? Do you spend most of your time working in the office, from home, or a balanced mix of both? Or are you highly mobile because you have to travel a lot? Or maybe something else entirely? I work in a hybrid model and spend about 40% of my time in the office. This has proven to be a good balance between flexibility and direct contact with colleagues. 🙂

Hey everyone,    It’s Pancake Day in the UK!    Whether you’re team lemon & sugar, full-on Nutella, or secretly sneaking bacon into the mix… today is a very important day for questionable food decisions.   It’s also a perfect excuse for a mid-day break, a little flipping action, and some serious topping debates with friends, family and colleagues!    So, let’s start a real conversation:  How do you like your pancakes? What are your favourite toppings?  Do you have a tested and adopted game-changing recipe you’d like to share?  Looking forward to your answers 👀🤤 Emilie 

Hi everyone, To start the year off, I was reflecting on how different our workdays can be — and how much small habits or routines can make a difference when we really need to focus and get things done. For me, it varies with the task, but I sort of have 3 go-to tricks: music, short walk/change of scenery and meditation. If I need to concentrate deeply, I’ll often put on some Brian Eno or something smooth like North Americans. If it’s more about staying energised through meetings or admin tasks, a short walk or changing environment tends to help a lot as well. Finally, meditating before the day starts always helps me to be more attentive and creative. I’m curious to hear from you:

Hey everyone,    It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come since the first smartphones hit the scene in the late 90’s. What started as a tool for calls and texts has evolved into a powerful companion that drives how we work, collaborate, and stay secure — wherever we are.   @BenMcc recently took us on a trip back to 2005 with his Community festival post titled “I Tried Living Like It's 2005 for a Week”, which highlights some of our past struggles with tech in a fun and real way!    In the world of Android Enterprise, smartphones are essential too

Hey everyone, Just a quick note to let you know I’ll be away from the community from Wednesday 4th to Friday 6th February and I’ll be back on Monday 9th. @Lynda will be here whilst I’m away and we will also have the privilege of having @Emilie_B, who you might have seen around the Android Enterprise community, covering the ChromeOS Customer Community during those days - feel free to say ‘hi’ if you haven’t met her yet!  Looking forward to catching up when I’m back. Cheers,Rafa

Hey everyone,    Some of my colleagues and I were chatting over lunch the other day about our favourite sandwich types — and it got us wondering what really counts as a sandwich!    Can it be an “open” sandwich where you add toppings to a slice of bread or can it only be two pieces of bread with a filling? And how do you cut said sandwich - are you a fan of the triangle or just go for a straight cut down the middle?     As we are a community of food lovers, I wanted to open the floor to you and ask what is your favourite sandwich type and what are your go-to toppings/fillings?    Personally, I like a triangle sandwich with brie, rocket/arugula and cranberry sauce but I’m also partial to a classic jambon-beurre with gherkins (and that’s only for the savoury options!).    What about you? 🥪   I can’t wait to be inspired by your replies! 

Hey everyone, Over the past year, many of us have probably found ways to simplify parts of our day-to-day work — whether that’s streamlining a process, cutting out unnecessary steps, or using tools more effectively. For me, simplifying how I plan and prioritise work has made a noticeable difference. Reducing context-switching and relying on clearer processes (and fewer tools) has helped keep things moving, even on busy days. I’d love to hear from you: What’s one task or process you’ve managed to simplify recently? What helped the most — a change in process, a tool, or a combination of both? Has ChromeOS played a role in making that easier for you? Even small improvements can add up — curious to hear what’s worked for others 👀 Speak soon,Rafa

Happy 2026 everyone 🥂   I hope you all had a wonderful festive break and managed to get some well-deserved rest.   Coming off the back of our end-of-year recap, the momentum is incredible. I'm so excited to keep that energy going and see what we build together over the next few months.    As many of us settle back into “work mode”, I thought it could be helpful to share some tips for making the transition as smooth as possible: Review your priorities: A quick audit of your January goals or key tasks can cr

Hi everyone, My name is Rafa and I’m the new Community Manager here in the ChromeOS Customer Community! Alongside @Lynda and the ChromeOS Community Team, I’m here to help keep this a welcoming and useful space, as well as to support you with questions, suggestions, or requests whenever needed. A few things about me: I have 3+ years of experience in community management and have worked closely with technical teams as a project and account manager I’m passionate about music (both listening to it and making it) I’m into sports and outdoor activities — I cycle and play football every week I enjoy all things creative, from photography and films to installation art and creative coding I’m based in the UK 🇬🇧

Hello everyone, My name is Lizzie and I am the Community Manager here in the Android Enterprise Customer Community. You are probably all use to having the roundtable introductions in meetings and sharing a fun fact about yourself. If you are like me, you then spend the next 30 seconds trawling through your brain to find an interesting fact to share with a group of people...the good news is you are not on the spot here!  😀  This aside, it's really nice in a community to get know others and so it would be fantastic to hear from you! I'll kick us off: I've been working in community for over 10 year across a few different industries.  I'm a big fan of music and I play a couple of instruments: so my 'office' playlist is quite an array of tunes I live on an island (it's quite a big one): so when I go to the Google office, I actually have to take a ferry, which sounds quite exotic!  Please

Hi everyone,    As the festive season kicks in — lights everywhere, classic tunes on repeat, tinsel and baubles as far as the eye can see — I thought it’d be fun to chat about festive films.   But first… what is a festive film?   Is it simply a movie set in December? One built around stockings, snow and last-minute shopping? Or does it need to revolve around the kind of chaos we all recognise this time of year: packed airports (the stress of a festive travel can lead to forgetting one of your kids at home), tight deadlines, school plays (and pantomimes if you’re in the UK), gift-wrapping and giving dilemmas (turns out a Joni Mitchell CD can be a risky choice…).   For me, anything set during this period counts — the festive backdrop just raises the stakes in the best way. It’s the most wonderful time of the year…or is it?!   What about you?Is Die Hard a festive film

Hey everyone,    You might have noticed that spooky season is upon us.    We thought we could join the conversation - we might as well! - and have a little bit of fun ourselves!    Halloween’s origins can be traced back over 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain - this festival was marking the end of harvest season and the start of winter. People believed that the boundary between the living and the dead blurred on this night — leading to traditions of costumes, bonfires, and lanterns to ward off spirits.   Celebrating Halloween is pretty new in the UK but, every year, it’s fun to see my local high street turn into a spooky place: from the cemetery ghoul in the estate agent window to the cute pumpkins at the locksmiths - even the corner burritos and tacos shop where you have

Hello everyone,   As we approach the holiday season, we wanted to wish you all a restful and well-deserved break. It is also the perfect time to look ahead, we wish you a wonderful 2026, both professionally and personally.   We also want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who joined and contributed to our community in 2025. This was our first half-year as a dedicated customer community, and it has been a fantastic start. From insightful conversations to live events, it’s been a pleasure getting to know so many of you. 🌟   While the community will be a bit quieter over the next few weeks, we have some exciting things planned for January and can’t wait to reconnect then.   In the meantime, we’d love t

Hey everyone,   Last December, we wrapped up the year with something really special — our very first Community Festival! We loved reading posts on everything from AI and mobile strategy to the future of Android — and even beyond.   ✨ This year, we’re bringing the Festival back ✨   From December 1st-5th, the Festival will be all about celebrating you and the amazing mix of voices in our community.   Each day of that first week of December, a different community member will take part and write an article on a particu

Hi there,  I work for a medium sized digital e-commerce platform that holds stock for, picks, packs and ships goods to customers when they place orders on clients websites such as TikTok Shop / Etsy etc etc... All our software (WMS/e-commerce) is completely bespoke and written in-house by our developers. One issue that we have is that our warehouse pickers use a Chromebook and separate USB barcode scanner on their picking trolleys to perform their work however this leads to numerous broken Chromebooks (several every week) and I feel it isnt the most efficient solution. What we are wanting is an Chrome based solution for barcode scanning (1D & 2D) - it needs to be able to get to a webpage where our WMS is hosted and be more rugged than a Chromebook!!I am aware there are Android based "gun grip" mobile computers but what I have seen are hugely expensive (circa £2200 each) and this would be too much for us to swa

Hello everyone,   Are you heading to Fal.con EMEA in Barcelona next week (Nov 4-6)? If so, please share below and perhaps you can connect with other community members at the event.   We’d also like to let you know that members of the Android Enterprise team will be there too, so do stop by the Android booth to say “hello”!   This is a great opportunity to get your questions answered directly from our team or just to chat around all things Android!    One last thing - we’d love to see your event photos (sadly not all of us can make it to Barcelona 🙂), so please feel free to post them in this thread!   Enjoy the conference!   Emilie & Lizzie 

A few months ago, we were asked about our favorite food, pizza was the winner! But a few months later, ​ @Alex_Muc decided to create the Sushi guide as nobody mentioned.    The topic initiated an active discussion, one of the comments was from @Emilie_B , asking for my home made sushi. I don't really make my own sushi, but I do make home made pizza. And after Emilie found out about that, she has been pushing me to create a guide. So here it is Emilie! It took me 4 months to not forget to take pictures, but I did it   --- Note

Hi everyone,   My name is Lynda and I am the Community Manager here in the ChromeOS Customer Community.    You know how sometimes in meetings, we go around and share a "fun fact" about ourselves? If you're anything like me, you might spend those precious moments before it's your turn frantically searching your brain for something halfway interesting to say. Well, good news! You can relax, because we're not putting you on the spot like that here. There's no need to panic or scour your memory – we're taking a different approach!   So, in your own time, just take a moment...😀    It's really nice in a community to get to know eachother and it would be fantastic to hear from you!   I'll kick us off: I've been working in enterprise tech for the last 15 y

Hey everyone,    Last week, I came across a previous community conversation about top apps, which I thought was an interesting conversation considering how there is an app for (almost) everything!    And, over the weekend, I decided to try a new app called Too Good To Go. I know it has been around for years, but I had just never bothered to download it.    Now, what changed is that a new bakery opened in the neighbourhood a few weeks ago. It is part of a chain of bakeries that can be quite pricey, but offer a nice range of delicious baked goods.    I tried the app, ordered a bag of baked goods, and i

Hey everyone,    I have just had a small work setup upgrade: I got a standing desk! Now, I can alternate between sitting down - which I do when I have to use my second screen - and standing up - which I do for meetings.    In terms of the rest of my desk setup, I have a mouse and an ergonomic keyboard, my trusted notebook where I write everything and my coloured pens (I like to categorise ideas by colour).    I find that limiting the amount of objects and things on my desk helps me focus - an organised workplace helps me organise my thoughts!   What is your setup like? Is it different at home than in the office? What is the thing you love about it and what do you think could be improved?    You can take inspiration from a

Two months ago, the community members were asked HERE about their favorite food. 🍕Pizza was the clear winner! But nobody said anything about 🍣sushi. Because it's expensive and far too complicated? No, sushi is not that complicated! 🤩 A few years ago, I bought a “sushi box” with all the basic ingredients. Just buy some vegetables and fish and you're good to go. So I dared to try it with two friends and... the result was pretty adventurous. There were no instructions or tips in the box, just ingredients and tools. Although we did almost everything wrong, I didn't let that daunt me. I picked up tips here and there and experimented myself.Anyone can prepare good sushi - with a little

Hey everyone,    As you may know, there is a heatwave happening in Europe at the moment. I think the US is also experiencing some very hot weather.   In London, we will have a peak of 32° Celsius, which is about 90° Fahrenheit. 🥵   I live in a small studio apartment located right under the roof and it is often as hot inside as it is outside. No fan seems to be helping so, full disclosure, I have spent the weekend lying very still and reading!    But, today is Monday and I’ve found an air-conditioned haven to work from, which rebooted my overheated brain and got me thinking:   Are you doing alright in this heat (your wellbeing matters!)?  Have you tackled working in a heatwave?  How do you stay cool?  Do you have any tips to share with the community?  &nbs

I hope you're all doing well! I run a blog centered around Collectible Items , and I'm considering expanding my reach by creating an Android app. The goal is to make it easier for users to access the latest posts, news, and discussions on collectibles directly from their smartphones.I would love to get suggestions or guidance on how to proceed with creating an Android app for my website. Specifically, I am looking for:Recommendations on the best tools or platforms for building an Android app for a blog-based website.Insights on integrating my WordPress site into the app for seamless content syncing.Best practices for designing a user-friendly app for a community-based blog.Any tips on monetizing the app (ads, in-app purchases, etc.).If anyone has experience with creating Android apps for blogs or similar projects, your input would be greatly appreciated!Looki

Hi everyone! Posted this in the off topic part of the community since my question has absolutely nothing to do with work but more with what I like to do outside office hours.  I have a motorcycle which I use to explore Europe, preferably besided the paved roads. Therefore I use an old phone with DMD2 app for navigation purposed. Its an old Nokia 7.2. It was slow when I bought it, and it sloooow now😂. Screen isn't easy to read and its just to small. I'm not enjoying using it and its getting annoying.  So i'm in the market for a rugged device and have a short list:Samsung Tab Active 3 or 5Looking for 1000nits brightness, and those don't reach thatPogo connection is a plus over USB-CDMD T865 or DMD T865XPerfect device, but expensive, not sure if I want to spend that kind of money nowRandom cheap tablet such as the HDM T21, or Samsung tab A9 with

Hello everyone,   I hope you've all had a restful and enjoyable holiday break. As we step into a new year, I wanted to wish you a very great 2025, both professionally and personally.    I also want to thank those of you who contributed to the community in 2024. It was our first full year as the customer community (which feels very strange saying, as it feels so much longer). We've had some fantastic conversations, shared lots of great insights and helped many peers troubleshoot their questions.  The feedback shared in 2024 has already made a difference and had an impact, which has been amazing to see. Plus, we've also got to know quite a few new faces here in the community. 🌟 A massive thank you to all of you.    I also wanted to do some special shoutouts to: @Moombas, @jasonbayton,