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smendel26
Community Member

Working!! UpWork Desktop App On ChromeOS*

Hello everyone! This is my first official post here. Hopefully it helps someone. I was searching for a solution and it still doesn't seem to be resolved by the UpWork team to officially add support for the Time Tracker desktop app on ChromeOS. My boyfriend is really good with ChromeOS and he will detail below the steps to get this to work on your Chromebook.

 

Step 1: Enable Linux Apps on your Chromebook.

- Settings

- Top left 3 lines

- Linux (Beta)

- Enable

Screenshot 2019-02-06 at 9.24.13 PM.png

 

Step 2: Go to this Google Drive folder I created and download the version of Linux that you need for your device. Linux on ChromeOS uses a version of Debian so you really just need to know if the processor of your device is 64 or 32 bit. Most devices are also using a 64 bit processor. Some lower-end Chromebooks might be using 32 bit. Just Google your device specs.

 

Step 3: With Linux now installed on your Chromebook, open the app drawer (bottom left) and find the Linux folder and open Terminal.

 

Step 4: Open "Files" app from your app drawer and locate the file you downloaded from the Drive folder in Step 2 (likely in the Downloads folder). Rename it to "upwork.deb". Then locate the "Linux files" directory on the left and drag the renamed file into that directory.

 

Step 5: Now for some command line. Don't worry, it's easy. From the Terminal window you opened type in:

sudo dpkg -i upwork.deb

The package will unpack and you might get an error, just type the next command once it is finished.

sudo apt-get -f install

 

Step 6: Open app drawer and located the Linux folder again. You should now see UpWork installed as a Linux app. Launch it and sign in.

Screenshot 2019-02-06 at 9.17.59 PM.png

 

Screenshots don't seem to work yet. But this is my first time using this so hopefully I'm forgetting something.

105 REPLIES 105
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thank you for sharing this tip here, Stephanie! (Thanks to your boyfriend too!) 


~ Avery
Upwork
6c2c3f66
Community Member

IMG_4050.jpeg

Thanks for the help! I was able to installed upwork now on my chromebook I don't have to worry anymore pf buying new laptop! 

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Stephanie, 


The team has taken interest on your post and wanted to look into this further. They wanted to check why the app wasn't taking screenshots, and requested some logs from your Upwork Desktop App. You should be able to locate your log files by going to this location on your Chromebook ~/.Upwork/Upwork/Logs/

 

Hopefully it will help our team diagnose this better.


~ Avery
Upwork

Do we have any more information on this? I wouldn't mind picking up a Chromebook for my work.

 

One item to note: I would expect for this to only work on x86 Chromebooks since Upwork does not supply and ARM package for Debian based linux (or any other flavor).

Hi! Is this still working? I have a chromebook that I want to use as a backup PC. 

Hi Kristine, 


Currently, the Upwork Desktop App works on Linux, Windows, and Mac. We'll make sure to update the Community if it will be available in ChromeOS as well. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Hi, I accepted an hourly contract on Upwork and I didn't realise but on my Chromebook I can't even download the app. I couldn't log the hours because in the manual time log there is only an option to log hours for today and it is glitching. How can I get paid for the work I completed? 

Hi Kimberley,

 

Thanks for reaching out to us. I checked and it seems that you successfully added manual time for the contract. Could you please send me a PM with more information about the glitch along with screenshots so that our team can check that for you and assist you further?

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork

Hi - I am with you on this. I was using a Windows laptop and obviously had no problem - now I have a Chromebook and my (new) client doesn't allow manual timings - I didn't realise Upwork and Chrome didn't do time track/screen shots

UpWork - please sort this ASAP!!

According to one of the stats that gets shown on Upwork, 83% of freelancers say it's important to them to be able to work anywhere... but for me that means working on my Chromebook vs. my desktop map at home. Please make this a priority!

18b8aa5b
Community Member

It isn't, it seems. Same goes for every other company when adding their features onto Chrome OS, things that are very crucial for online work like Skype and others. It's a shame. After a lot of work into my profile I realized that I cannot actually work on UpWork unless I have a real PC. I am unable to buy one so this makes me quite literally too poor to work. I'm sure many people share the same experience. Hopefully one day this will become of importance to the UpWork programming dept.

petra_r
Community Member


Ada H wrote:

After a lot of work into my profile I realized that I cannot actually work on UpWork unless I have a real PC. I am unable to buy one so this makes me quite literally too poor to work.


You can work on Upwork, the only thing you can't do is use the tracker.  Just use fixed rate contracts (which are WAY more common in your category) or manual time and use your earnings to buy a machine that supports the tracker,  even a used one will do the trick.

9d2ffb01
Community Member

2022 and still no progress *sigh*

Hi Avery, I have the relavent logs. Where should I upload them to? (I cannot attach them to this post as .zip and .log files are unsupported file types.

 

Items of note:

1. Screenshots do not work within ChromeOS or the Linux container.

2. Activity tracking does not work with ChromeOS, but seems to work fine for apps used within the Linux container.

 

--I'm not sure anything exists that will fully bridge the gap between ChromeOS and the Linux container for these features, but I guess I'll leave that up to your software engineers 🙂


Don B wrote:

Hi Avery, I have the relavent logs. Where should I upload them to? (I cannot attach them to this post as .zip and .log files are unsupported file types.

 

Items of note:

1. Screenshots do not work within ChromeOS or the Linux container.

 


Without screenshots the workaround is completely useless. You might as well use manual time.

 

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Don,

 

Could you please try to file a report for our support team following ''How do I report a problem?'' section of this Troubleshooting guide. Please include all the info in that report, and our team will follow up on your ticket directly.

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Don, 


I'll go ahead and send you a private message with more information on how you can share this with me. The team is investigating this further, so it's really great that you stepped forward with this information. I'll ping you! Robot Happy


~ Avery
Upwork

Log files sent ( just letting the community know 🙂 )

Hi Avery,

 

It will be very much appreciated and will be very helpful if Upwork Desktop App becomes available for download in Chromebook. 

 

Thanks.

eppineda
Community Member

You can also run the installer by moving the file to My files/Linux files, right-clicking, and selecting the option to install:

Make sure the installer is in the correct location in order to install from the Files app.Make sure the installer is in the correct location in order to install from the Files app.

 

Thanks Enrique! That is an alternate way of installing it and a bit easier I suppose lol!

Avery, I think it has more to do with the Linux container than the UpWork app itself. It won't record the screen because it's basically running in an emulator this way. 

I truely think it would be better if you guys could just make an Android app (since they work on ChromeOS) or a progressive web app that works instead of a dedicated desktop app... 

 

Sorry for the late replies everyone! 

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Stephanie, 

Thank you for checking back! I was really hoping you'd come back here. Robot LOL I'll go ahead and share this with our Desktop App Team so that they can investigate further. 

 

In the meantime, are you able to collect your app's log files for me and send through a private message? 


~ Avery
Upwork

Hello! I'm checking back in on this. I just recently started a new contract where the client is set on NOT using manual time. Up to this point, all of my clients have been fine with me adding manual time, and tracking my time/having screenshots recorded via Hubstaff. It gives me extra work to do copying my time over, but it's worth it to be able to use my Chromebook.

I tried downloading this from the Google Drive folder, and it keeps telling me I need to update it - is there an updated Linux file I should be downloading?

Also, it definitely has a bug in it, as I tracked my time this evening with both Upwork & Hubstaff, and recorded 1 hr. 10 mins. with Hubstaff, but when I checked my time log on Upwork, only 1 hr. had been recorded (with a random 10-min. gap in-between). And, no screenshots are being taken.

I've been asking for years - is there a way we can get an Upwork tracker as an app or for ChromeOS? I think there are a LOT of freelancers out there who use the Google-friendly Chromebooks (most of my clients are G Suite!), and this would really make my work life easier, as my newest client is adamant about needing me to use this tracker.

Thank you!
Sarah

You are the number one! Thank you now it is working!!!

krystabelw
Community Member

Hi Stephanie,

Has the screenshots been working as yet? I can't believe Upwork is yet to extend the app to other operating system especially with technology growing.
I really want to switch to my new Chromebook which is soo much faster than my windows sigh.
sirarpisahakyan
Community Member

Thanks for sharing. This has been really helpful. Unfortunately, I am encountering an issue this week - the tracker is loading and won't open. Have you had the same problem? Any idea on how I can solve this? Thanks 

Hi Sirarpi,

 

Just to confirm, you were able to use the Desktop App on ChromeOS but it stopped working properly this week? Could you please send me a PM with more information so I can share with the team? Thank you!

~ Joanne
Upwork
snowbunny1
Community Member

Thank you for sharing! It's not working on my machine but hopefully the interest generated will cause the upwork team to realize they are losing money by not implementing. I have the majority of my clients outside of upwork and would love to invite them in, but unfortunately I don't want to work on my mac at home all the time. I travel with a chromebook. Chromebooks are also a very affordable option for new freelancers who are starting businesses. Adding manual time doesn't work for many clients as they like being able to track time with screen shots, etc. Until this is resolved, 90% or more of my work (that I found with my own marketing) is not brought into the platform. 

Any updates regarding this topic ?

I did install the latest version of Upwork Time Tracker app for linux on my Chrome OS and seems like screenshots still not working.

We really need to know if there is any progress or any expected date for a new release that is compatible for Chrome OS.

Hi Sherif,

 

At the moment we don't have any updates about this or an ETA.

Once we have more information about this we (Moderators) will post an update here. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Thanks for you reply Goran.

 

I hope you start progressing on that ASAP.

 

Just wanted to note something I found that may help people who may think about using Upwork time tracker on chrome even if it fails to take screenshots as I knew that some started to do so after their clients permission.

Sometimes Upwork Time Tracker app don't count a period of time although the tracker is on. Tried to find out something by checking the logs but didn't find anything.

 

When i found that I started monitoring that and for a session of 50 minutes, 20 minutes only was tracked !!!

 

Just thought about highlighting this maybe others didn't recognize that issue.

 

Thanks,

Sherif

becca_gasparich
Community Member

YOU ARE AWESOME. I tried this and it worked great. Thank you!

margo_sharp
Community Member

I was hopeful this would work but my Chromebook uses the ARM64 architecture, not AMD64 used in the .deb file you have.

23b3c2b0
Community Member

ERROR! No internet!!!

The app appears to have installed just fine, but when I start the Upwork app it keeps complaining that there's not internet. I've verified, I do have internet connection!

Does anyone have any idea what's going on???

Any advice is highly appreciated.

Hi David,

 

Could you please send me a PM with your username and email address of the account you need help with? I'll check that for you and assist you accordingly.

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork

Any update on Chrome OS version of the Upwork Time Tracking? 

I am also interested in this for the early stages of my projects!

I don't have a login account to UpWork yet, but I'm about to. My company email address is **Edited for Community Guidelines**. We have many users in the Philipines using this app. We need to convert them all to Chromebook, so I must get the app to work on Chromebook. I got it to installed OK, but it keeps complaining I don't have internet when I really do. Can you or someone help me please??

Hi David,

 

Upwork currently doesn't support Chrome OS. We don't have any updates about this or an ETA at this time, but once we have more information about this, we will post an update here. Thank you.

~ Joanne
Upwork
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