Google Drive adding ARM support, NordVPN & ExpressVPN now on Snapdragon PCs

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Google has reportedly confirmed that Google Drive will soon gain native support for ARM chips. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon announced at the company's IFA event that Google will be launching an Arm64 version of Google Drive on Windows later this year, according to the technology news website The Verge. He added that NordVPN and ExpressVPN have arrived on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon laptops. 

Additionally, he informed that Qualcomm is exploring the possibility of Snapdragon chips in desktop PCs. Qualcomm has previously teased Snapdragon X Elite chips for desktop PCs but the closest device to a desktop PC is Qualcomm’s eight-inch development kit. More details about desktop plans could be revealed at the Snapdragon summit in October.

What is the reason for the limitations of many apps on Arm based Windows?

Microsoft announced AI powered Copilot Plus PCs in May this year. The new range of Arm-based Copilot+ PCs support select apps from Adobe such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Express and other software that are supported out-of-the-box includes DaVinci Resolve Studio, CapCut, Cephable, LiquidText, djay Pro, and more. 

However, Windows on Arm has faced the issue of native support for many apps as most apps have been created in accordance with Windows on x86 processors and many softwares are not compatible with Arm architecture. Arm and x86 processors differ in their instruction set architectures and software compatibility.

Many apps are now adapting to Windows on Arm processors and Arm processors need software specifically built for their architecture. This is what has been resulting in limitations for many apps but with the major software developers showing support, things are changing. Google Drive and VPN apps have been missing on recently launched Copilot Plus PCs as it was required that they were updated for Windows on Arm.

Qualcomm and Microsoft have been putting in effort to persuade app developers to port their applications over to Windows on Arm and now it appears that Google has been brought onboard with the idea of turning Drive into a fully-fledged app for Arm64. 

Previously, Google released a native version of Chrome for Arm based Windows PCs before the Qualcomm’s latest Arm-based processors for Windows, dubbed Snapdragon X Elite and just in time for the launch of Copilot Plus in June.

Quick Share, Google’s file-sharing app for Android devices, continues to be missing ARM support completely.