PC laptops with ARM chips instead of x86 processors are a tiny section of the PC market, but they are growing. More apps are starting to be updated to run natively on ARM systems, and now Google Drive has finally joined the party.
Google has just announced the launch of a beta version of Google Drive for desktop specifically designed for Windows 11 ARM64 devices. The beta version, according to Google offers the same functionality as other platforms, with the exception of support for the Outlook Meet plugin. You can expect support for cloud synchronization and access to your files stored on Google Drive.
Google Drive has been a must-download app for a lot of Windows users, since it automatically synchronizes your files with the cloud without having to manually upload things by yourself through the browser. Contrary to many x86 apps that run on ARM Windows through the built-in compatibility layer (emulation), Google Drive couldn’t be installed if you happened to have an ARM chip on your laptop. Now, it’s fully supported.
To run the beta version, users must have Windows 11 and the Microsoft WebView2 component installed. If WebView2 is not already present on the device, the installer will prompt users to download and install it.
If you’re interested in giving this a spin, download it on your PC. Keep in mind that this is a beta release, and as such, it might contain bugs. Google advises you that if you are going to try this out, you should actually make sure to not upload/download any sensitive data. We’re not sure if we’d go that far, but you should certainly avoid using this if you’re not comfortable with beta-grade software. If you want to stay safe, just do things the old reliable way: through the browser, manually uploading each file. It’s annoying, we know, but the good part is that if the beta rollout goes well, a stable version should be pretty close.
Source: Google via Mishaal Rahman (Mastodon)
