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Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

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Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#141

Post by lallysingh »

azakai wrote: post #114
izacus wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1.) Majority of the apps with NDK code will ship x86 binaries as well. It's very rarely a problem. 2.) For those that don't, libhoudini does an ok job even on slower phones. On faster chromebooks that shouldn't be an issue at all.

This does, however mean that 1. This depends on closed-source code (libhoudini is Intel code, and it's not open, last I heard). I guess it's not the first piece of closed-source code in Chromebooks, but it's a crucial piece. 2. This code is still not portable, it just runs on 2 archs, unless someone writes a libhoudini for all other archs as well.

I don't think it's a major blocker, qemu already let's you emulate any arch that you need. Replacing libhoudini with a qemu based version would likely be straightforward.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#142

Post by groovypuppy »

jalami wrote: post #139
spot wrote: post #107

from the post: > Schools in the US are now buying more Chromebooks than all other devices combined -- and in Q1 of this year, Chromebooks topped Macs in overall shipments to become the #2 most popular PC operating system in the US*. that's pretty amazing actually. congrats to google & the chromebook team!

Congrats on the adoption, although I still don't think it's moving our public institutions in the right direction. It's really just moving a lot more kids into a walled garden. I know Google has been in hot water for collecting student data recently and has since taken steps to fix it. That's their primary business model though. " Anonymizing " promises always follow and then it's a trust game again. I can see a futu…

"I can see a future where a mandatory Google account follows you up the grades. Educational software is released exclusively in Google's Play store. Assignments and homework are handed in with Google Drive and Google Docs."

This is not the future. This is now. At the school district where I volunteer as a computer instructor, all the first graders already have a Google account that will follow them throughout their grades. In fact their user names include the year they are expected to graduate. They are teaching first graders how to use Google docs. Editing a Google doc is their first big lesson. I see them as walled in, but from their perspective the Google ecosystem is all there is to the internet.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#143

Post by benley »

VikingCoder wrote: post #137
NetStrikeForce wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, like having a Mac or Windows laptop, but restricted to either webapps or walled garden. This is not game changer. It is exciting and might help grow the Android ecosystem. I just hope Google learned from the Honeycomb fiasco.

You can side-load Android Apps on Android. I'd be pretty surprised if you won't be able to side-load Android apps on ChromeOS.

You can already side-load Android apps on ChromeOS, as well as with Chrome on other platforms. All you need is the ArcWelder chrome extension, which I'm pretty sure is provided by google themselves, to package up an apk into a chrome app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/arc-welder/emfinbm...

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#144

Post by lawnchair_larry »

jbigelow76 wrote: post #80

I'd be more interested in seeing Electron apps on ChromeOS before Android apps, not expecting that to happen mind you, Electron on ChromeOS probably does nothing to move the Google ecosystem forward.

That would be absolutely terrible.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#145

Post by benley »

newjersey wrote: post #126
jimmcslim wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, can that be virtualised I wonder?

What would be the use case? Better sandboxing than what Chrome/Chromium provides? Im not trying to make a snarky comment. I'm curious what the use case is for you. Thanks

Trying it out before committing to reinstalling your laptop with it?

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#146

Post by jimmcslim »

benley wrote: post #145
newjersey wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be the use case? Better sandboxing than what Chrome/Chromium provides? Im not trying to make a snarky comment. I'm curious what the use case is for you. Thanks

Trying it out before committing to reinstalling your laptop with it?

Yes, this.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#147

Post by stephenr »

Adaptive wrote: post #138
userbinator wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to be the contrarian one in a thread full of Google fans, but I'd consider this trend of schools flocking to locked-down and largely cloud-dependent computing devices to be pretty freaking scary . Start them young, get them accustomed to and comfortable with the idea of some huge company having great knowledge of and control over their online lives... it's a great business plan, but one that I would certainly…

I understand this concern. I've helped deploy chromebooks and linux based laptops and pcs at my daughters school. I am pro open source and would love to see lots of digging into understanding the systems. However I am also in favor of chromebooks. Here's why: The alternative to chromebooks isn't a glorious world of non-locked down non-cloud dependent machines. It's a world of poorly managed, crappy windows boxes. A w…

> poorly managed, crappy windows boxes

> at least as locked down as a chromebook but much less secure

I fucking loathe windows, but Lucy, you've some 'splainin to do. How is a Windows PC "at least as locked down" as a Chromebook?

Remember that "locked down" in the case of a chromebook doesn't mean "the administrator has decided what apps you can run and who can use it", it means "the fundamental design of the operating system means it can only ever run browser based apps, and it's inherently reliant on Google's infrastructure to work".

If Microsoft shut up shop tomorrow, the billions of Windows PCs in the world would have a security issue, sure, but they wouldn't stop fucking working.

> So bring on chromebooks as locked down, easy to manage dedicated "into to being a google user" devices

Fixed that for you.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#148

Post by stephenr »

danso wrote: post #112
spot wrote: post #107

from the post: > Schools in the US are now buying more Chromebooks than all other devices combined -- and in Q1 of this year, Chromebooks topped Macs in overall shipments to become the #2 most popular PC operating system in the US*. that's pretty amazing actually. congrats to google & the chromebook team!

Pretty heartening too...for awhile, I was worried that computerized education would be limited to tablets.

Right, its much better if computerised education is limited to browser based applications.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#149

Post by Bombthecat »

userbinator wrote: post #133
spot wrote: post #107

from the post: > Schools in the US are now buying more Chromebooks than all other devices combined -- and in Q1 of this year, Chromebooks topped Macs in overall shipments to become the #2 most popular PC operating system in the US*. that's pretty amazing actually. congrats to google & the chromebook team!

I hate to be the contrarian one in a thread full of Google fans, but I'd consider this trend of schools flocking to locked-down and largely cloud-dependent computing devices to be pretty freaking scary . Start them young, get them accustomed to and comfortable with the idea of some huge company having great knowledge of and control over their online lives... it's a great business plan, but one that I would certainly…

Apple was basically in the same position and they lost it to google.

Someday there will be something better and people will switch.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#150

Post by zepto »

Bombthecat wrote: post #149
userbinator wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to be the contrarian one in a thread full of Google fans, but I'd consider this trend of schools flocking to locked-down and largely cloud-dependent computing devices to be pretty freaking scary . Start them young, get them accustomed to and comfortable with the idea of some huge company having great knowledge of and control over their online lives... it's a great business plan, but one that I would certainly…

Apple was basically in the same position and they lost it to google. Someday there will be something better and people will switch.

Chromebooks aren't better - they are just cheap and familiar looking. Google has done nobody a service except themselves.
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