Planning to buy a Googlebook to try Google’s new laptop OS? An unofficial project lets you experience Googlebook on your Mac through a virtual machine. It will give you a taste of what to expect from the company’s new laptop OS.
The unofficial open-source project runs Google’s operating system inside a virtual machine, letting you explore the software without buying a Googlebook first. The developer says it uses Google’s recovery image for a Dell Googlebook, based on Android 17, instead of using a generic Android build that is modified to look like the real thing.
The project, called gobs-vm, replaces some hardware-specific components with virtual alternatives. It runs through QEMU, with GPU acceleration that translates Vulkan graphics to Apple’s Metal. The developer says Chrome works, so you can experience what browsing the internet would feel like on Google’s new laptop OS.
Since everything runs inside a virtual machine, your Mac will function as it is, with none of your files or system settings being touched. The open-source project only works on Apple Silicon Macs, with the developer recommending machines with 16GB of RAM and at least 60GB of free storage. There’s also a 9GB download involved to get started.
You boot into Googlebook by opening the Mac app, which launches the virtual machine. Closing its window or quitting the app will shut down Android, with your data being saved across sessions. You can adjust the resolution, memory allocation, and CPU cores for a better experience. It is also possible to run the virtual machine in full screen and paste content directly from your Mac’s clipboard.
The setup isn’t seamless, and there are rough edges
Getting started with the Googlebook virtual machine is not as simple as downloading a package and opening it on your Mac. You first need to ensure you have Xcode Command Line Tools and Homebrew installed. The Android SDK with an NDK and a Java Development Kit are also required, though the project’s installation script can download them for you.
Unfortunately, don’t expect everything to work, and this project will only give you a basic experience of Google’s new laptop OS. The developer lists the following limitations:
- Bluetooth. It crashes on boot and Android will tell you about it. Dismiss the dialog.
- A TPM daemon crash-loops in the background. It’s harmless but it wastes a bit of CPU. We haven’t found a clean way to stop it yet.
- 60 fps cap on the guest display. The QEMU build we use doesn’t expose a refresh rate setting.
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Flat shading can be wrong. Chrome needs a Vulkan extension MoltenVK doesn’t have, so we tell the guest it exists. That’s fine for almost everything;
flat-interpolated WebGL content may pick the wrong vertex. - Copying out of the guest, right-click, and long sessions are implemented but haven’t had a proper test. They might be fine. They might not.
- Audio was silent on one boot and then worked. We don’t know why yet.
If you still fancy trying Googlebook without investing in a new laptop, this project may be worth a look. Don’t expect a smooth experience, but it should still give you a taste of what to expect from Googlebooks.
