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Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

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Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#31

Post by aguyfromnb »

igravious wrote: post #17
wazoox wrote: post #13

Typical Google move. I have a Chromebook. It was listed on the models that would support Android app, this support never came (it's still "planned", 2 years later...). Support for Linux apps didn't come, either. So now I suppose my Chromebook will be soon a useless brick. Thanks, Google. Got the message, I'll never use any product with your badge again.

In fairness, they've enabled Android apps on an awful lot of Chromebooks: https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chrome-os-systems-suppo... All new Chromebooks support Android apps afaik. What model do you have? Chrome OS is Linux (it runs the Linux kernel) – you mean your Chromebook doesn't yet support the greater Crostini project? https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/master/c... What part of the Quicks…

>Android apps and Crostini on Chromebooks are not two of them. In fact, Android apps is one of the migration paths away from Chrome apps, a fact this article fails to mention.

So should someone buy a new Chromebook on the hopes that this new system of apps will continue to be supported down the road? I think once you're burned once, that's hard to buy into.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#32

Post by ianai »

taneq wrote: post #30
Kaiyou wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say that, but you got a Chromebook despite everything Google did in the past. If people had gotten any message they'd have abandoned Google back in 2008.

Was Google anywhere near as bad in 2008? I don't recall anything particularly awful back then.

No, I think that was around the launch of the first android, right? There was some serious interest in a Linux (!!!) based phone. They were seen as a savior of sorts, as I remember it. Now they’re a place where novel ideas go to die.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#33

Post by tyingq »

techntoke wrote: post #20
dindresto wrote: post #10

Note that Chrome Apps != Progressive Web Apps, which you can still install on desktop Chrome and the new Edge and hopefully will gain more traction.

My understanding is this is the direction they are heading and I don't see this as a bad move on their part for this reason. If they were getting rid of PWAs then I would be upset.

There are some chrome apps that you can't do as a PWA or Chrome extension. For example, there's a local webserver that serves up a folder over http.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-server-for-chr...

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#34

Post by dijit »

SifJar wrote: post #21
Twisell wrote: post #15

Please excuse this naive question, but what is the point of ChromeOS/ChromeBook then? If everything is now WebApp what's the point of an OS that can't run native App vs any other OS that can do both? I must be missing something???

lightweight/less bloat, lower resource requirements, generally reasonably cheap hardware

I'm sure you mean this unironically, but chrome is by far the heaviest program that the majority of people run.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#35

Post by [deleted] »

taneq wrote: post #30
Kaiyou wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say that, but you got a Chromebook despite everything Google did in the past. If people had gotten any message they'd have abandoned Google back in 2008.

Was Google anywhere near as bad in 2008? I don't recall anything particularly awful back then.

[deleted]

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#36

Post by dtech »

Eikon wrote: post #3

I feel like chrome apps were actually ahead of their time and very much better than embedding a full browser per app with electron. Of course, they were not perfect but IHMO made much more sense than what we have today, at least on a technical standpoint and could have evolved into something truly great.

I.i.r.c. Chrome Apps are compiled binaries specific for Chrome (NaCL), they're more like Flash, Java or Webassembly applications.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#37

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

trevordixon wrote: post #25
Twisell wrote: post #15

Please excuse this naive question, but what is the point of ChromeOS/ChromeBook then? If everything is now WebApp what's the point of an OS that can't run native App vs any other OS that can do both? I must be missing something???

Security and simplicity. Such a low-maintenance system. When I sign in to any Chromebook, my wallpaper, shortcuts, and settings are just as I left them. For example, I may never have to find the setting to maps caps lock to escape ever again if I stick to ChromeOS.

To be fair, Windows 10 does this.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#38

Post by wazoox »

hakanu wrote: post #18
wazoox wrote: post #13

Typical Google move. I have a Chromebook. It was listed on the models that would support Android app, this support never came (it's still "planned", 2 years later...). Support for Linux apps didn't come, either. So now I suppose my Chromebook will be soon a useless brick. Thanks, Google. Got the message, I'll never use any product with your badge again.

What model of Chromebook do you use? I've 2 chromebooks purchased around $120 each of which is at least 3 years old and I have had android apps since the day I first bought in 2017 and linux support (crostini) for at least a year.

It's an ASUS 300M. A pretty high end model when I bought it 4 or 5 years ago, and as a basic PC, running a standard Linux it would be fine for at least 5 more years. But running Chrome OS, it may become a doorstop any time.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#39

Post by kgersen75 »

dtech wrote: post #36
Eikon wrote: post #3

I feel like chrome apps were actually ahead of their time and very much better than embedding a full browser per app with electron. Of course, they were not perfect but IHMO made much more sense than what we have today, at least on a technical standpoint and could have evolved into something truly great.

I.i.r.c. Chrome Apps are compiled binaries specific for Chrome (NaCL), they're more like Flash, Java or Webassembly applications.

no not at all.

There are javascript+html+css apps that could use the Chrome API ( https://developer.chrome.com/apps/api_index ) which allow them to do more than regular javascript+html+css web pages.

There is no compilation.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#40

Post by dazc »

Kaiyou wrote: post #14
wazoox wrote: post #13

Typical Google move. I have a Chromebook. It was listed on the models that would support Android app, this support never came (it's still "planned", 2 years later...). Support for Linux apps didn't come, either. So now I suppose my Chromebook will be soon a useless brick. Thanks, Google. Got the message, I'll never use any product with your badge again.

You say that, but you got a Chromebook despite everything Google did in the past. If people had gotten any message they'd have abandoned Google back in 2008.

Chromebok was originally marketed as a simple, no-nonsense laptop and that's what it is. All iterations since have been useful but did anyone really believe it was going to be a ThinkPad killer?
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