From Chrome Apps to the Web

The moment it was announced that Android Apps/Play store was coming to Chrome OS, I always wondered about the fate of Chrome Apps.

I built a Photobooth App called Photomatico[1] (for use in events/wedding/parties). While there is an endless supply of photo/camera apps in Android and iOS, there were only a few photo/camera apps on the Chrome Store, and even less that didn't rely on using Flash. I wrote Photomatico originally as a web app for one of my friend's wedding (super happy with the use of only HTML/CSS/Javascript).

It was a relatively small effort to package the code into a web app (because packaged web apps have the added functionality of running offline/disconnected, kind of like Cordova/PhoneGap) and adding to the fact that Google handled all the payments - so no need to do extra work and sign up for credit card processing/Stripe/Recurly/paypal, etc. So all you had to do was add a few lines of code, zip it up and people would pay you for it!

I think people value the simplicity of an "app" versus a website even though in my case the functionality is equivalent. From the last 3 years, I find that non-tech people (i.e. people who celebrate retirement parties, DIY party organizers, etc.) are pretty comfortable with the concept of packaged apps (icons, distinct install process) but are even more comfortable with the safety of an App store. As crowded as it is, users definitely were more comfortable with a store than navigating and bookmarking a website.

I have built other apps that use the bookmarking feature to launch separate self-contained windows and my own anecdotal observations show that this workflow is really hard for them to grasp. Even the "new" way in Chrome is being dismissed by users because it looks too much like an ad or popup.

A few years ago, I put my Photobooth app on the Chrome Store and slapped a price (currently:free for selfies, $40 for the "Events" edition). I learned a lot about pricing/offering (I was surprised when I discovered I had more people paying $40 for the Events Edition than $5), building an email list (incentivizing signups), etc.

Just the other day, I was reviewing my revenue figures, and for relatively low amounts of work/support it's currently bringing in around $150 CDN / month, with over 40 daily installs, a couple thousand pictures taken weekly.

As sad as it is to see the chrome store go all I can say (in 2018 when they will shut it down) is: "So Long! Thanks for all the fish!"

[1]https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/photobooth/lcimple...

I think next year's Android tablets will be more like the Play Store with Chrome OS under the hood, the apps they are obsoleting today will be a universally inferior experience on tablets because they were only ever supported on desktops.

I think Google are betting on the Play Store for Windows and macOS breaking the Windows/Mac desktop paradigm too ... between Chrome the browser and Android apps Google occupies a lot of user attention already, they're already close to all the apps most people need, especially when they're co-installed on your desktop/laptop.

In terms of functionality they're on the brink of parity with Windows wherever the dependency is really just x86. A commercial Android version of WINE has already installed the Windows version of Steam and playable games, just as sophisticated GPUs start moving to the same USB every cheap tablet will have next year.

A lot of people will end up completely weaned off Windows/Mac app dependency... those are platforms on which both native app stores are orders of magnitude less popular than the Play Store and unpopular with developers.

It is possible to make some money on there. If you own a Chromebook with Chrome OS, it's the only place to get software. There is a torrent app for sale on the Chrome store for £1.89 and has over 50k installs: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jstorrent/anhdpjpo...

Though I didn't build a game, I have made money (see above) around $1k/year.

do 50k installs of this app equal 50k sales?