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Leak Reveals Early Aluminium OS Footage

Published 29 January 2026

A bug report on Google's Issue Tracker has inadvertently revealed early footage of Aluminium OS, the company's anticipated hybrid operating system blending elements of Android and ChromeOS, offering the first public glimpse of its desktop interface.

The leak surfaced this week when a report related to Chrome Incognito tabs included two brief screen recordings, totaling about two and a half minutes, captured on an HP Elite Dragonfly 13.5-inch Chromebook. The device, equipped with a 12th-generation Intel Core processor, ran a build identified as Android 16-based, with the codename ALOS for Aluminium OS and version number ZL1A.260119.001.A1. Google quickly restricted public access to the report after the footage was noticed, but copies had already been preserved externally.

The recordings depict a desktop-like environment that fuses familiar Android and ChromeOS features. A taller status bar at the top of the screen displays standard Android icons for WiFi, battery, and notifications, alongside a Gemini AI assistant icon, the date and time, and a screen recording indicator. This bar appears optimized for larger displays, differing from the compact versions on smartphones and...

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