Chrome V59 brings native printing to Chrome OS

Connecting to your printer at home is getting very easy with the latest version of Chrome OS Stable (V59) rolling out to devices now bringing with it ‘Native Printing’.

Chrome OS V59 also brings ‘Chrome apps running in kiosk mode can access Networking APIs for kiosk network management and Audio APIs’ but the real big news here is the Native Printing. Previously printers have needed to be ‘Google Cloud Print’ enabled to enable them to be used by Chrome OS, but with Native printing you can now setup printing to networked devices natively on Chrome OS.

The support docs for Printing on ChromeOS say it’s quite easy to do, with most networked printers the protocol is IPP, though there may be other types:

1. Click your account photo.
2. Click Settings .
3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
4. In the “Printing” section, click Printers.
5. Click Add Printer.
6. Enter your printer information:
   • Name: Type any name.
   • Address: Type your printer’s IP address.
   • Protocol: For most printers, the supported connection protocol is IPP.
   • Queue: For most printers, the queue is ipp/print.
7. Click Add.
8. In the box that appears, choose your printer manufacturer and model.
   • To find this info, look at the label on your printer.
   • If you don’t see your printer in the list, check your printer info for its “printer language” or “emulation.” Then choose the “Generic” option that looks similar.
   • If you have your printer driver, click Browse to upload it. The file must be 250 kb or smaller.
9. Click Add.

The addition of Native Printing seems a great addition, and if you’ve been waiting for this addition you should have the update already, now all you need to do is set it up.