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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

#231

Post by SirYandi »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #112
wazoox wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Looks like your model should be compatible with GalliumOS: https://wiki.galliumos.org/Hardware_Compatibility So you could go that route, if you like. I ended up doing something similar with my original Chromebook Pixel when Google stopped supporting it: I removed the write-protect screw from the motherboard, flashed a normal BIOS, and installed Linux Mint on it.

This [1] is a useful site for replacing the firmware on your Chromebook.

[1] https://mrchromebox.tech/

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

#232

Post by tyingq »

techntoke wrote: post #206
tyingq wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

A local web server is something that can easily be setup on desktop and mobile outside of Chrome.

It's nice to be able to do it anywhere chrome exists in a consistent, quick, point/click, non-admin user way.

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

#233

Post by reaperducer »

beached_whale wrote: post #230
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

So sadly true. Why does my company's spam filter require Flash in order to view a list of messages that were flagged? That's insane.

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

#234

Post by pier25 »

magila wrote: post #146
Andrex wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://developers.chrome.com/apps/migration Everything except advanced File System APIs are supported by PWAs, including Bluetooth through the Web Bluetooth API. [1] The replacement Native File System API is in origin trial and is pre-standardization, however. [2] [1] https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2015/07/interact-w... [2] https://web.dev/native-file-system/

Another big gap is the sockets API. Chrome apps have direct access to TCP and UDP sockets. PWAs can't have this for obvious reasons.

The last Chrome OS app I worked on for education used UDP to send broadcast packets in the classroom and find other devices to be able to communicate via WebSockets.

I don't work there anymore but if one of the schools using that app bought Chromebooks without support for Android apps it's going to be a shit show in 2021.

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

#235

Post by thrower123 »

I want to think that Postman was one of these, at least at one point. There may also have been a SQLite browser that I used briefly.

Otherwise... yeah, I can't say that I remember using any of these.

I think I'd rather have all of the Electron apps that I use now share a version of Chrome rather than each package the whole shebang themselves though.

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

#236

Post by thrower123 »

AstralStorm wrote: post #168
CydeWeys wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costing a many billion dollar multinational corporation $10-20 isn't sending a message at all. It's just a waste of your time.

Not if you expand the $10 into a class action. That however is a lot of work.

That winds up being a big payday for a law firm, and free identity monitoring for everybody else...

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

#237

Post by zelly »

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.

Eventually we will get libchromium{.so,.dll} installed by default in all operating systems so that Electron apps can share the same runtime as your browser.

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

#238

Post by thefounder »

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…

>> This is good news, people. Less fragmentation and more open standards. reply

Actually is bad news. PWAs are pretty useless and when I say useless I mean no better than a website. All the web restrictions(i.e cors) apply to PWAs. It's just a "webpage shortcut". The alternative to Chrome apps are really Electron apps not PWAs.

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

#239

Post by zelly »

arendtio wrote: post #69
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.

I just wish apple would finally support push notifications for PWAs: https://caniuse.com/#search=push%20api A lot of use-cases like e.g. chat apps, depend on that kind of technology.

Supporting web push would make Apple responsible for sending all kinds of malware and spam down their pipe. Anyone can access the push service, authenticated by Safari. I think it would look bad for their brand to have notification spam under the "Safari" logo.

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

#240

Post by thefounder »

mmebane wrote: post #216
geofft wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google routinely floats out APIs, services, and platforms and encourages their use despite fatal flaws that mean they are doomed from day one. For most use cases, there are better options now than Chrome apps. ServiceWorkers didn't exist when Chrome apps were introduced. Neither did wasm, and its precursors NaCl and PNaCl were scoped to just Chrome apps, not to the public web. Chrome did a very good job at a) build…

Is there any way to bypass CORS in a PWA? Because Chrome Apps were a really handy way of writing GUI utilities without having to go full Electron.

No, you can't. PWAs are just "glorified" web pages. Nothing more or less. Electron is the only viable choice for desktop apps with web technologies.
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