Chrome Launches on Arm64 Linux: Widevine DRM Support Now Available!
Google has officially launched an Arm64 version of Chrome for Linux devices, including those using Raspberry Pi. This long-awaited release enables users of single-board computers and other Arm64 setups to access the full version of Chrome, which offers additional features compared to Chromium.
In March, Google pledged that an Arm64 build would be available in "Q2 2026," and it has now delivered. Notably, these Chrome Arm64 builds are accessible through Google’s official Linux repositories for Debian and RPM-based distributions. Users attempting to download Chrome on an Arm64 system would initially receive an AMD64 installer; however, modifying the download URL from amd64 to arm64 successfully retrieves the native version.
Installation on an Ubuntu system was smooth, yielding a aarch64 build of Google Chrome v150. This version easily integrates with the system by adding Google’s repository during installation, ensuring future updates are managed alongside standard system updates.
The newly released Chrome for Arm64 facilitates essential features like Google account synchronization, allowing users to import extensions, bookmarks, and passwords seamlessly. Additionally, it incorporates Widevine DRM, which has historically required workarounds for Arm Linux users. This enables playback of DRM-protected content directly within Chrome, a capability that is notably absent from the Chromium version.
While testing on the Raspberry Pi 5, the application performed adequately, with smooth playback of 2K YouTube videos, although there were limitations on high-resolution DRMs due to its software-based nature. Consequently, services like Netflix are capped at lower resolutions because of the lack of hardware-backed security measures.
If you’re using an Arm64 device and wish to try out Chrome, you can download it directly from the link provided below:
Do keep in mind that as of now, there hasn’t been an official announcement from Google about the reliability or testing status of these builds.