Imagine waking up and getting ready to have a productive day, only to realize that your carefully curated selection of laptop Android apps has completely vanished. You chalk it up to a bug and try to head to the Play Store to reinstall some of the important ones, but you can’t seem to locate the digital storefront either. That’s a very specific case, one that not many would have been able to relate to until very recently.
A subset of Chromebook users are currently stuck in that exact predicament, with Google scrambling to issue a fix.
A wave of user reports hit Reddit and Google’s own support forum within the last week, as pointed out by the folks over at TechIssuesToday, with all chiming in with a similar issue. Specific Chromebook users reported that after a recent restart or update, their device was missing the Google Play Store icon and some or many downloaded Android apps.
After digging a bit deeper, it looks like the bug is causing Chromebooks that haven’t opted into Extended Updates support to behave as if they have. For reference, Extended Updates allow Chromebooks that have reached their end-of-life for automatic software updates to continue receiving support for security, performance, and stability. That, however, comes at the cost of Android app compatibility.
Devices that receive extended updates will no longer have the ability to run Android apps. Android apps and the Google Play Store will be removed to maintain security, performance, and stability on your ChromeOS device.
Only some Chromebook models seem affected
Google is aware
Additionally, the bug seems to be limited to specific Lenovo Chromebooks, including the likes of 100e, 300e and IdeaPad S330. Chromebooks with similar underlying architecture could also be affected, though I couldn’t spot any relevant reports.
For what it’s worth, Google is aware of the issue and is currently working on a fix. In a comment on a user’s Google Support post, Community Manager Ellen T wrote that the bug is affecting “a small subset of users, on a handful of models.” “We are working quickly to resolve this issue,” added Ellen. A clear timeline for the fix was not provided.
