I just found a great bluetooth keyboard by Brydge for the Pixel Slate and am wondering if current ChromeOs devices can manually transfer from "tablet" to "desktop" mode when you attach a bluetooth keyboard?
It seems like this is feasible by enabling a setting in developer mode. Thanks to @Skawtnyc's response on Reddit!
You can switch back and forth on the fly. Enable
chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcutsand then you can use CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+T to switch back and forth between desktop and tablet mode.If you connect a mouse it will automatically switch to desktop mode, but using this method you can still switch back and forth.
@Skawtnyc also points out a bug to watch out for when using an external display such as a monitor.
Keep in mind that when connected to a dock with an external display, this setup can trigger a crash/restart error. The cause is the virtual keyboard. Anything that causes the virtual keyboard to appear on screen will trigger it. The workaround is to go into Accessibility settings and turn off the on-screen keyboard. You don't need it anyway when using a physical keyboard.