ChromeOS Beta 16463.28.0: what’s real, what to test, and when to wait

Google shipped ChromeOS Beta 16463.28.0 on Nov 25, 2025. It bundles Chrome 143.0.7499.46.

I have watched teams treat “beta stability update” as a freebie, then spend Monday morning chasing a broken kiosk app. So I do not treat these as “routine.” I treat them like a small experiment with a stopwatch and a rollback plan.

What Google actually announced (and what they did not)

Here’s the clean, verifiable part. The official post says Beta moved to platform 16463.28.0 for most ChromeOS devices, and it includes browser version 143.0.7499.46.

• ChromeOS platform: 16463.28.0 (Beta channel, “most devices”).
• Chrome browser: 143.0.7499.46.

That’s it. The post does not include a human-readable changelog of fixes, and it does not list a “Known Issues” section. When someone tells you “known issues: none,” assume they mean “none listed.” I do not trust “known issues: none” from any project.

Should you install it?

Depends.

If you enrolled a few devices in Beta on purpose, install it and measure what happens. If you run a school testing lab, a call center, or anything kiosk-like, do not push this broadly without a pilot. Some folks skip canaries for patchy-looking releases. I don’t, but I get it when you have zero test hardware.

• Upgrade now: you already run ChromeOS Beta and you need to keep the fleet aligned with current Beta for testing.
• Wait: your “beta” devices quietly drifted into being production devices, it happens more than anyone admits.
• Be extra careful: you rely on printing, VPN, or kiosk apps. Those break first, in my experience.

My preflight checklist (the boring part that saves you)

Do this first.

Before you click anything, make sure the device sits on power, has enough free storage, and can finish a download without getting yanked off Wi‑Fi halfway through. Interrupted ChromeOS updates usually recover, but “usually” is not a plan.

• Confirm you’re on Beta: check Settings, then About ChromeOS, then channel info.
• Know your escape hatch: if this device matters, make sure you can recover it with ChromeOS Recovery before you start.
• Pick a pilot cohort: start with a small slice of your real world, like the loudest printer, the weirdest USB dock, and one kiosk.

How to upgrade (single device)

This part stays simple.

On the device, open Settings, go to About ChromeOS, then choose Check for updates. When ChromeOS offers it, select Restart to update, then come back after the reboot and confirm the platform and browser versions.

• Install: Settings > About ChromeOS > Check for updates.
• Restart: click Restart to update when prompted.
• Verify: confirm you see platform 16463.28.0 and Chrome 143.0.7499.46 after reboot.

What I test after the reboot (10 minutes, not a week)

Test the stuff that pays your bills.

I’ve seen “stability updates” pass every synthetic check, then fail on the first real workflow. If you only do one thing, open the apps your users open at 9:00 a.m. and make sure policies still apply.

• Login and policy sync: sign in, then confirm managed settings still show up where you expect.
• Critical web apps: load your top 3 URLs, sign in, run one full task, then log out.
• Extensions: confirm your required extensions still run, especially security and content filters.
• Peripherals: print one page, plug one USB device, connect one external display.
• Network edge cases: test your VPN, captive portal, or 802.1X flow if you use it.

If a critical workflow fails in your pilot, stop. Do not “push through” and hope stable will magically fix it.

Known issues

No known issues were listed in the official Chrome Releases post for this update. That does not mean the build has no issues. It only means Google did not publish a list on that page.

Official release note

Read the upstream post and keep it bookmarked: Beta Channel Update for ChromeOS / ChromeOS Flex (Nov 25, 2025).

Anyway. There’s probably a better way to test this, but the checklist above has kept my pilots boring, and boring is the goal.