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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

#221

Post by outworlder »

jcastro wrote: post #133
crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

Anyone know the status of being able to install PWAs on the desktop? The reason I use chrome apps is to have "Gmail" as an application on my desktop so I can alt-tab to it, put it on my dock, etc and treat it as a normal app instead of a tab.

Just make a simple bash script that goes:

open -n /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app --args --app="https://gmail.com"

Add shortcuts to that.

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

#222

Post by outworlder »

mffnbs wrote: post #203
fenwick67 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off the top of my head, these were the Chrome apps I used: * VideoStream (allowed casting to Chromecast from filesystem) * PostMan * Internal tools at previous job that used MDNS None of these applications work as a PWA. All of these moved to Electron instead. Which is heavier and just as non-standard and dependent on Chromium as Chrome Apps.

Postman has become so bloated in the past two years to a degree where I don’t enjoy using it anymore. Anyone know of an alternative that keeps it simple?

I use this thing: https://insomnia.rest/

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

#223

Post by outworlder »

ddalex wrote: post #99
tomrod wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely. Though all the Google devs I've met weren't using them for development --> devs aren't the target market.

TBH I dont understand the developers preference for laptops, generally. The laptops are good when you need to be mobile - but you can pry my multi-large-monitors desktop out of my dead hands, because I'm not giving that up for serious be-in-the-zone development.

Uh, my work device is a laptop and I use multi-large-monitors. With external keyboard and mouse.

I can unplug it (single cable) and take to a conference room if the need arises. I can take off early and plug it at home. It has a built-in UPS by the virtue of having a battery. Why would a desktop be better, unless you need crazy hardware?

I do have a desktop at home, but that's for my personal uses.

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

#224

Post by draw_down »

cjmcqueen wrote: post #198
Spooky23 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Complaining about Google is a sport these days.

Seriously... let it go people. Google is a business.

They are one of the biggest companies in the world and they dominate the internet. It is okay to complain about them, people should probably do it even more.

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

#225

Post by gman83 »

jmull wrote: post #158
crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

I agree that this was a terrible idea from day one and am glad it has been killed and will soon be buried. But this: "typical Google cancelling a product" is still an important message. Google routinely floats out APIs, services, and platforms and encourages their use despite fatal flaws that mean they are doomed from day one. And some developers fall for it and later have to pay the price. Hopefully, the repeated wa…

Flutter is an open-source framework that targets Android, iOS, Web & Desktop. That's rather different to something that just targets Chrome. The developer experience is amazing. Personally I'm using it and not too worried about Flutter lasting. Just like I use react on the web and I'm not worried about that either.

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

#226

Post by spondyl »

> You probably aren't using Chrome apps anyway

My coworker sitting to the left of me still uses the Chrome App version of Postman because it works, and hasn't stopped working.

It has had an orange banner for the last year saying to upgrade but I'm pretty sure he never will, until it actually stops working.

I think in his mind, the Chrome version is fine and ultimately, he'd be going through the install process then potentially moving his saved requests to what is essentially an identical copy of the exact same application

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

#227

Post by zerocrates »

mffnbs wrote: post #203
fenwick67 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off the top of my head, these were the Chrome apps I used: * VideoStream (allowed casting to Chromecast from filesystem) * PostMan * Internal tools at previous job that used MDNS None of these applications work as a PWA. All of these moved to Electron instead. Which is heavier and just as non-standard and dependent on Chromium as Chrome Apps.

Postman has become so bloated in the past two years to a degree where I don’t enjoy using it anymore. Anyone know of an alternative that keeps it simple?

I've been using Insomnia instead, but it's also Electron I believe.

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

#229

Post by offmycloud »

crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

The end of support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux is June of this year, unless you have paid Enterprise/Education support.

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

#230

Post by beached_whale »

crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

people supporting enterprise. enterprise software is bad to begin with and often has long shelf lives. ActiveX, old java, flash et al are all still flourishing at a large corp near you
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