In my previous article Building a custom launcher for ChromeOS I described how Be nice runs on Chromebooks: not as a real default home app, because default home settings (Settings.ACTION_HOME_SETTINGS) usually are not available on ChromeOS, but as a normal Android app in an ARC window. I pretended the app is the launcher in code (detectIsHomeApp() returns true on ChromeOS), worked around split-screen bugs that leave the app a black rectangle, and gave up transparent wallpaper for an opaque scaffold because ARC does not show the ChromeOS desktop behind the window the way a phone shows its wallpaper.
What that article obviously could not cover is the fight that came right after. For about a week in May 2026 I tried to get rid of a system confirmation ChromeOS shows when users open the preset-size menu in the ARC window title bar and choose Resizable, at least on Play Store builds. During my experiments, manifest changes often looked fine from Android Studio; however, on Play, the dialog stayed. I tried adding XML, asking AI assistants, including Google’s own models, for the magic flag. Here’s what I learned along the way.
What users see
ChromeOS does not present Play Store Android apps the same way in every posture. On a convertible or clamshell Chromebook in laptop use, ARC usually places apps in individual windows (chromeos.dev). The title bar often labels the current layout (Phone, Tablet, or Resizable) and opens a menu to switch presets; choosing Resizable is what triggers the warning below, not dragging the window frame by itself (in fact, resizing the window by dragging one of the window edges does not work until it is allowed through the dialog). In tablet mode the picture is different: apps commonly launch and stay full screen, which matches how ChromeOS has long treated touch-first use on detachables (Chrome Unboxed on immersive mode). The resize presets and the warning below matter most when you are in a windowed, laptop-style layout, not when an app is already filling the screen in tablet mode.
