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Using Google Chrome/Chromium with native Wayland backend in Arch Linux

Update on Oct 28, 2021: the bug mentioned in the update of Sep 22 has been fixed.

Update on Sep 22, 2021: there’s a bug affecting using Wayland Chrome/Chromium/Electron in the latest Sway/wlroots (i.e., the latest git commit). See https://github.com/swaywm/wlroots/issues/3168 and https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1246834. Before the bug is resolved, either use the released versions of Sway/wlroots, or just wait.

In the past, we may need to use XWayland when using Google Chrome or Chromium under the Wayland environment. But now (as of 01/04/2021), it’s possible to use native Wayland with Google Chrome/Chromium and even electron-based apps if they are installed through the official repository or AUR.

Just launch Google Chrome/Chromium with two additional flags:

$ google-chrome-stable --enable-features=UseOzonePlatform --ozone-platform=wayland

or

chromium --enable-features=UseOzonePlatform --ozone-platform=wayland

It’s the same for electron-based apps:

<app executable> --enable-features=UseOzonePlatform --ozone-platform=wayland

10 Comments

  1. Anonymous Anonymous

    works! thx

  2. Luis Luis

    it’s amazing.
    google chrome fast open with wayland, thank

  3. perdak perdak

    Why you still have to fuck with additional parameters to run chrome in wayland ?

    • You probably don’t. The upstream’s roadmap was to make Ozone the default and discard these flags in the second half of 2021, which is now. I don’t know their progress because I don’t use Chrome now. No matter what, older electron-based apps still need these flags until the developers upgrade their Electron.

    • Diego Diego

      no, just change chrome://flags/#ozone-platform-hint to auto

      • kmfslasher kmfslasher

        Chrome Works well! You saved me much troubleshooting! Thanks!

  4. Anonymous Anonymous

    Any luck sharing an application window into a Google Meet?

    • Encrypted Cicada Encrypted Cicada

      go to chrome://flags and search for wayland. there’ll be a setting “WebRTC PipeWire support”, put that on enabled and restart. Then you can share your application window or the entire screen via meet. Just make sure to select “Emtire Screen” option on the first prompt and then there’ll be a second prompt where you’ll be able to select the window to share.

  5. Shawn Shawn

    Wondering why links in external applications wont launch when wayland is set in Chromium. Clicking a link in email or dolphin flashes the icon orange if the browser is open and/or minified.

    This doesn’t occur when X11 is set in Chromium, just wayland.

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