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Google's video shows how Android apps run on Chromebooks
One of the most exciting announcements at Google IO 2016 was that the Google Play Store is coming to Chromebooks. Though very simple, fast and convenient, Chrome OS was very limited by its lack of software. It has been a glorified browser all along, something that will definitely change with the inclusion of over a million Android apps.
We were all over Google IO, but the session regarding this announcement, known as “Coming to a Chromebook near you”, had a very high attendance demand, as well as few available seats. We all knew the news, but very few people in the industry had seen Android apps literally working on a Chromebook… until recently.
Google has released a video of this session, which lasts a bit over 23 minutes. It includes the announcement, as well as a full demo of Android apps running on Chrome OS (based on both ARM and Intel).
It’s interesting to see how well Google has managed to merge both platforms. Android applications seem to work as if they were just another Chrome OS native app. It’s seamless to share files between different apps, offline features work flawlessly and even security features have been brought to Chromebooks.
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The experience getting a bit wonky was something we were all worried about. After all, Android apps were made with mobility in mind. But all apps looked pretty good in this demo; they simply took more of a tablet shape. And since we do have touch-enabled Chromebooks, we can take advantage of these apps to their full capacity.
Watch the video and let us know what you think! Are you excited about Android apps coming to Chrome OS? Maybe this will finally bring Chromebooks the functionality they needed all along.