Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
Googlebooks could soon get much better at letting you pick up where you left off
Oct 26, 2026 — 8:59 AM ET
- An Android Authority teardown has uncovered an “App restore on reboot” feature for Googlebooks.
- This would let Googlebook owners choose whether to restore their previously open apps after restarting their laptop.
- This option was previously available on Chromebooks and called “Welcome Recap.”
Googlebooks were supposed to deliver the best of Android and Chrome OS in one modern computing platform. But it’s clear that Googlebook OS fell short of this mark in several ways at launch. The company is bringing fixes and improvements to the platform, and it now looks like one missing Chrome OS feature is also in the pipeline.
You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.
We dug into the second Android 17 QPR3 beta and discovered that Google is working on an “App restore on reboot” feature for Googlebooks. This would let Googlebook owners choose whether to restore their previously open apps after restarting their laptop. Check out the strings below.
<string name="app_restore_on_reboot_title">App restore on reboot</string>
<string name="app_restore_on_reboot_always">Always restore apps</string>
<string name="app_restore_on_reboot_ask_every_time">Ask every time</string>
<string name="app_restore_on_reboot_never">Never restore apps</string>The strings suggest that Google will let you choose between three options. You can choose to always restore your previous apps after rebooting, never restore them, or be asked each time.
If this feature sounds familiar, that’s because it was previously available on Chromebooks. The feature, called Welcome Recap on Chrome OS, includes the same three restoration options. Welcome Recap also displays weather updates and upcoming meetings. This all means you can quickly pick up where you left off if you’re working, studying, or just using your favorite apps.
In any event, this would be a sorely needed addition to Google’s new desktop platform, joining our recently discovered Phone Unlock feature. Googlebooks launched a few weeks ago, but there was no shortage of issues at launch. This included unreliable device pairing, Chrome’s inability to support multiple profiles, and poor Linux support compared to Chrome OS. So our fingers are crossed that we see plenty of fixes and additions before the end of the year.
Conversation
Read what readers said or add your take.