Only available on devices with at least 4 logical cores, including 4 real cores or 2 cores with 4 threads. Virtual Background, instead of the current Mask feature, can be enabled by users on devices with sufficient CPU cores.

Virtual background support for devices with sufficient hardware As zoom is something I can’t shift my people away from, it’s one of the things that drove me to a higher spec machine, sadly. I note they also have advice to limit other demands on low powered chromebooks while on zoom too – like not using an external screen. Zoom needs either 4 cores or 2 cores with 4 threads. I didn’t need to update it or do anything special: I just clicked my Zoom app shortcut and saw the new that’s because your chromebook doesn’t have ‘sufficient resources’ – the lenovo 100e amd a4 has only 2 cores with 2 threads. Since this is a PWA, there’s nothing to download if you already have the Zoom app for Chromebook installed. And it isn’t the highest quality sensor out there. Of course, the camera in my Chromebook is getting on in age. There’s a bit of gray blur as the progressive web app tries to filter out my background. With the Core i5 and 16 GB of memory in my daily driver, Zoom didn’t get the outline quite right during my testing. You’ll want to keep an eye out for any additional audio or video lag on that Zoom call, though.Įven on a higher-end device, don’t expect miracles here. If you have a budget Chromebook then, I’d still give it a try. Zoom does caution users that this feature could cause performance degradation on lower-powered hardware. Given that we’ve all been stuck mostly at home for the last two years, I suspect any recent photos will show the same room as you’d be in anyway. There are only a few virtual backgrounds, although there is an option to upload your own. Just click that Settings button to choose either a blur or a magical place for you to “be” on your video chat. In fact, if you open up the Zoom PWA on your Chromebook and log in, you should see the new features highlighted:

I haven’t been keeping up with the Zoom PWA after it arrived last June, as I’m more of a Google Meet guy.īut one of our readers, Chris, clued me into the latest upgrade that brings these visual treats to Chrome OS. Yup, you can now blur what’s behind you or use a virtual background in the Zoom web client. I don’t know when it happened, but the Zoom PWA for Chromebook gained a new trick that brings it closer to a full desktop experience.

Zoom app download for chrome