Google pushes Chrome packaged apps on Chrome’s 5th birthday
It’s hard to believe it, but the most popular web browser in many parts of the world just turned five. And to celebrate Chrome’s great success in moving the web forward, Google has finally decided to unveil packaged apps to everyone on all Chrome channels. (Previously, packaged app could only be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store on beta and dev channels.)
Additionally, the Chrome app launcher for Windows that has been available in beta and dev channels of the Chrome browser is now available in the stable channel, as well. Google says it will appear the next time you download an app from the Web Store, in case you don’t see it right away. The app launcher is coming to stable channels soon for Mac and Linux, and Google is still working with developers to bring Chrome packaged apps to Android, too.
To recap, packaged apps are those that, while written in standard web languages, are available offline and can communicate with hardware like USB drives and Bluetooth speakers. In other words, to most end users, they look and act like any other normal app, except they are cross-platform compatible and always stay up to date. Packaged app are organized in the Web Store in the “For Your Desktop” collection.
What’s your favorite Chrome packaged app?
[Google]
