Key Takeaways
- Google Drive is now available on Windows Arm-based devices.
- Google released a beta, requesting feedback.
- It should all work as normal, but there is no support for Outlook Meet plugin.
Windows PCs and laptops have been the same for the past few decades. While the hardware has evolved, becoming faster and more efficient, Intel and AMD have always remained at the helm when it comes to the processors found in these devices. With that said, something interesting happened this year with Windows PCs, as Qualcomm decided to throw its hat into the ring with its Snapdragon Elite processors, offering brands a new way to power their devices going forward.
As you can imagine, this change was quite exciting, and for the most part, these Snapdragon Elite processors are living up to the hype. The only problem is that it’s going to take some time for these Windows Arm-based devices to reach parity when it comes to functionality compared to Intel and AMD’s x86 CPU device counterparts. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of supported apps, but it’s not quite one to one just yet.
Google Drive is finally here
Luckily, developers are working hard to push out compatible versions of its popular apps, making Snapdragon Elite devices a more viable option. For the most part, as stated before, most popular apps are already available, but there are smaller apps that have yet to make the leap. Thankfully, Google Drive is now being made available on Windows Arm-based devices starting today. And although it might be in beta, it does give users some kind of option to integrate this into their current setup.
The brand announced the news through its Google Drive Help blog, with a native version of the app now being available to those that want to try it in beta. As you might expect, you get the same type of functionality you find in other versions of the app, except for the Outlook Meet plugin that is currently not available. Google did not expand on this last point, so it’s unclear whether this functionality is being worked on or if it’s going to be omitted from the release completely.
If we had to guess, we’d say that it’s just not being made available in the beta. If you want to give it a try, you’ll need a Windows Arm-based device running Windows 11 and Microsoft WebView2. From here, you can just download the app directly from Google, install it, and you’ll be up and running. Of course, what’s critical here is the feedback, so if you’re running the beta, it’s a good idea to submit issues as this can improve the experience when it is eventually released to the public.
