A new breed of Chrome Apps

#1

Post by twapi » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:14 PM UTC

A new breed of Chrome Apps
chrome.blogspot.com

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#2

Post by josephwegner » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:44 PM UTC

So, really, there's only two new features here:

- Launch chrome apps directly from the desktop - Run chrome apps with out any of the browser toolbars

Everything else is already possible in a regular chrome app.. Right?

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#3

Post by alexandros » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:45 PM UTC

Prediction:

The much-anticipated convergence of Android and Chrome is near. These new Chrome apps are the programming model for the upcoming native Android webapps

The next milestone I expect to see is V8 added alongside Dalvik as a first-class runtime for Android. Maybe in Android KitKat?

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#4

Post by workbench » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:46 PM UTC

Front page of the store is covered in bootleg Mario Brothers games.

Classy work Google

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#5

Post by trimbo » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:47 PM UTC

josephwegner wrote: post #2

So, really, there's only two new features here: - Launch chrome apps directly from the desktop - Run chrome apps with out any of the browser toolbars Everything else is already possible in a regular chrome app.. Right?

It looks like they open up APIs that otherwise wouldn't be exposed, like access to the shell and devices.

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#6

Post by pspeter3 » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:52 PM UTC

alexandros wrote: post #3

Prediction: The much-anticipated convergence of Android and Chrome is near. These new Chrome apps are the programming model for the upcoming native Android webapps The next milestone I expect to see is V8 added alongside Dalvik as a first-class runtime for Android. Maybe in Android KitKat?

That actually makes a lot of sense given their Android KitKat tagline which is "It's our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody." Google has used Play Services to update Android in the background. Since they also own Chrome, the more apps that live within Chrome the more apps are up to date and out of reach of other companies who would use Android for them, notably Amazon, Samsung and Facebook

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#7

Post by untog » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:53 PM UTC

alexandros wrote: post #3

Prediction: The much-anticipated convergence of Android and Chrome is near. These new Chrome apps are the programming model for the upcoming native Android webapps The next milestone I expect to see is V8 added alongside Dalvik as a first-class runtime for Android. Maybe in Android KitKat?

I really hope so. Android's support for webapps has been dismal, which is very surprising given that Google pushes them so hard elsewhere.

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#8

Post by taskstrike » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 4:53 PM UTC

The new breed of chrome apps has a lot of flaws after I tried to convert my app over:

-Previous installed chrome app matches the HTML5 api, the new chrome apps has a lot of restriction where you have to totally rewrite you code in terms of storage. i.e. Chrome.storage instead of localStorage; All chrome storage is async.

-The new window format for apps are a huge UI flaw. You can not open an Chrome app in a tab anymore. Basically, you now have an extra window whenever you open a chrome app. This is very annoying since when you click on the existing window the app is hidden in the back, you have to flip through your windows on the mac to find the app you just opened again.

-Javascript execution permissions are very strict, and no longer follows that of a normal webpage.

The result is, you can no longer build an HTML5 app and prepare it for the chrome store, you have to specifically change the code to package it. This makes it less ubiquitous and creates extra work for developers.

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#9

Post by wwosik » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 5:00 PM UTC

trimbo wrote: post #5

josephwegner wrote: post #2

So, really, there's only two new features here: - Launch chrome apps directly from the desktop - Run chrome apps with out any of the browser toolbars Everything else is already possible in a regular chrome app.. Right?

It looks like they open up APIs that otherwise wouldn't be exposed, like access to the shell and devices.

Cool, Java Applets reborn

Re: A new breed of Chrome Apps

#10

Post by teleclimber » Thu, Sep 05, 2013, 5:03 PM UTC

taskstrike wrote: post #8

The new breed of chrome apps has a lot of flaws after I tried to convert my app over: -Previous installed chrome app matches the HTML5 api, the new chrome apps has a lot of restriction where you have to totally rewrite you code in terms of storage. i.e. Chrome.storage instead of localStorage; All chrome storage is async. -The new window format for apps are a huge UI flaw. You can not open an Chrome app in a tab anymo…

I remember from a talk at IO13 that the point of the new Chrome Apps is that they truly behave and feel like what we think of as "native" apps. Therefore, no Chrome tabs or other browser-like stuff. I'd have to look at the talk again but if I remember right they limit how and when JS can be used in order to let you safely do things you can't do in a standard webpage.

This session explains it all: https://developers.google.com/events/io/sessions/326973874