Re: Google workspace on chromebook

Pitmeister

I have a small workspace environment with a couple of users. I want to use a chromebook because it will help my productivity with using native apps and not having to switch between my personal and work account. However, i cant seem to get this to work properly, playstore is not available and all the app i need are not installed.

I have been in contact with google support for some time and keep getting instructions that doesnt seem to work. Now it turns out i need a chrome OS license which i also cant seem to find in the admin portal. Why is this so apparantly difficult? Shouldnt i just be able to use a chromebook out of the box with a workspace account? I am puzzled by the complixity of this case...

StephenHind

We had a client that had a similar issue (the Play Store not available) and eventually Google Support told us we needed to enable the Android Enterprise subscription to your Google Workspace (it's free, don't worry).

Sign in to https://admin.google.com/
Navigate to Billing > Subscriptions (https://admin.google.com/ac/billing/subscriptions)
Use the Add or upgrade a subscription option
Go to the Devices and browser and subscribe to Android Enterprise

Once added this should enable the Play Store.

Which specific apps were you missing?

Pitmeister

I already enabled this on advice of google, but still no playstore. They now state i need to have an addtional license for Chrome OS which i paid, but i cant seem to find it.

As for which apps, Sheets, Drive, Documents etc. Its basically an empty chromebook now with a chrome browser.

StephenHind

@Pitmeister no you don't need to buy any kind of a licence to use Play Store on a Chromebook with a Google Workspace account. Have you enabled the Android apps on Chrome devices setting in the Google Workspace admin console?

Sign in to https://admin.google.com
Navigate to Devices > Chrome > Apps and Extensions > User app Settings
Scroll to the Additional app settings and enable Android apps on Chrome devices

This screen recording should help:

Allow Users to install Android apps - Chromebook ChromeOS

Sorry I'm not sure what you're expecting to find on a Chromebook; nothing really comes pre-installed. Docs, Sheets etc are available via your web browser, I'm not sure where else you're expecting to find them. Once you open the browser and Go to Google Docs (for example), etc, you can install the web app if you want to:

Install a Web App - Chromebook ChromeOS

Pitmeister

Hi, i will make a screenrecording for this. Its enabled but i still dont have a playstore on a chromebook.

As in what im expecting to find; i now use a windows laptop with a browser. I would like to use native apps and a default account, im currently switching between my private account and 2 workspace accounts which is confusing at times.

KAM

If you want to manage the device with MDM, you need a Chrome license. If you just want to use the machine for accessing workspace, register it with a Gmail account and then just add a Chrome profile for your Workspace Account. -KAM

StephenHind

@KAM that's not possible on Chromebooks: Chrome OS does not offer multiple profiles like desktop Chrome, you need to sign in to the Chromebook with the Google Workspace account directly.

KAM

Damn you are right. I use the switch accounts. But I don't have any licenses and routinely connect to multiple workspace profiles. Though sometimes I hit issues where the MDM requires the account be the primary one. I'm connecting to VDI and not thinking. -KAM

bill_pier3

One can, however, switch with a keystroke between multiple accounts concurrently signed-in to the Chromebook.

StephenHind

@Pitmeister wrote:

I would like to use native apps and a default account, im currently switching between my private account and 2 workspace accounts which is confusing at times.

You just sign in with your workspace acocunt: you don't need to use a personal account at all: I'm not sure why you're involving a personal account.

Can you explain what you mean by "native apps"? ChromeOS/Chromebooks don't really have any; it's all via the web. If you mean you want to use Android apps then they will work once you have enabled the PlayStore. Here you can see a screenshot from my Chromeboo with the Google Play Store open and the Google Calendar Android App, all solely using my Google Workspace account (while I'm responding to this question):