Chrome on Googlebooks lacks this key feature seen on Chrome OS, iOS, and almost everywhere else

Googlebooks have finally gone on sale, and we’ve got five premium models on offer at launch. The platform is a hybrid between Chrome OS and Android, but the Chrome browser has inherited a smartphone weakness.

The Android Authority team has received Googlebook review units, and colleague Paul Jones and I can confirm that we’re not seeing support for multiple profiles in the Chrome browser. We’re both using the ASUS Googlebook 14. Clicking your profile image at the top of the browser merely takes you to the Chrome account settings page (with no profile switching option here), while the three-dot menu doesn’t list your profile with an option to switch accounts.

It turns out this isn’t a glitch or device-specific issue, as Googler Mishaal Rahman recently confirmed in a Reddit thread that Chrome on Googlebook OS doesn’t support multiple profiles.

“Specifically for Chrome on Googlebook OS, it does not currently support multiple profiles, but I’ll pass this feature request on to the team!” the Googler explained.

This is a major oversight for Googlebook OS, as the Chrome browser on Chrome OS lets you easily switch between multiple users. So you would’ve thought that the new OS would inherit the predecessor’s Chrome browser. Even Chrome on iOS supports multiple profiles.

The inability to switch browser profiles in Chrome on Googlebooks would be in line with Chrome on Android. Instead, one popular workaround is to install a separate Chrome branch, such as the Canary or Beta release, which lets you sign in with a different account. These releases are available on the Play Store, and I can confirm that this solution works fine on the new Google-powered laptop.

In any event, I really hope Google quickly adds support for multiple Chrome profiles in Googlebooks. After all, this is a clear downgrade compared to even Chromebooks.