Google Chrome Apps
Available inEnglish
OwnerGoogle
Created byGoogle and other app developers
URLchrome.google.com/webstore/category/apps (works only on Chromebooks)
CommercialYes
LaunchedDecember 6, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-12-06)
Current statusActive for ChromeOS only (until January 2025);
support for other operating systems discontinued in July 2022.

Google Chrome Apps, or commonly just Chrome Apps, were a certain type of non-standardized web application that ran on the Google Chrome web browser. Chrome apps can be obtained from the Chrome Web Store along with various free and paid apps, extensions, and themes. The apps come in two varieties: hosted, or server-side, and packaged, or client-side; each format targeting different use cases.[1] Support for Chrome Apps has been removed from Chrome in June 2022, except on ChromeOS where support has been extended until at least January 2025.[2]

History

On August 19, 2016, Google announced that it would begin phasing out Chrome Apps for Windows, MacOS and Linux (both packaged and hosted) by the end of 2016, finishing the process in early 2018.[3] The company said that such apps would continue to be supported and maintained on ChromeOS "for the foreseeable future".[3][4] The plan later changed, with Chrome Apps set to last until at least January 2025 for ChromeOS.

On January 15, 2020, Google announced that Chrome would begin phasing out support for Chrome Apps completely starting in March 2020, with support for consumers until June 2021 and enterprise until June 2022.[5]

Types

Chrome apps can be hosted or packaged. Hosted apps have their background web pages on a remote server and the app acts like a bookmark or shortcut;[6] packaged apps have offline functionality making use of local storage.

Packaged

Packaged apps were launched on September 5, 2013.[7] They have features very similar to a native desktop app, namely offline capable (by default), can interact with hardware devices, and can access local storage.[8][9] Packaged apps are not confined to the regular Chrome interface and can display without a classic window menu and operating system user interface elements.[8][9]

Hosted

Hosted apps are the original type of Chrome apps. They contain a single manifest file that contains the URL and additional information about the app. Hosted apps typically require an internet connection and are subject to regular web page security restrictions.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Chrome for PC". Famous File. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Extending Chrome App Support on Chrome OS". Chromium Blog. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  3. ^ a b Welch, Chris (19 August 2016). "Google will end support for Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux". The Verge. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  4. ^ Roy-Chowdhury, Rahul (19 August 2016). "From Chrome Apps to the Web". Chromium Blog. Google. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Changes to the Chrome App Support Timeline". Chromium Blog. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  6. ^ "Choosing an App Type". Google. Google. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  7. ^ "A new breed of Chrome Apps". Google Chrome Blog. Google. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b "What Are Chrome Apps?". Google. Google. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. ^ a b Lardinois, Frederic. "Chrome's Native-Like Packaged Apps Come Out Of Dev Preview And Head To The Desktop, Now Called "Chrome Apps"". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Hosted Apps". Google. Google Inc. Retrieved 24 May 2014.

External links

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