It’s all powered by a containerized Android framework that runs on top of the Chrome OS. Google Play Store will be sharing the in-app purchases from the user through this Family Library feature.
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Despite the growing popularity of Chromebooks, Chrome OS still has an app problem.
Google is addressing these issues and more in a newly announced update to its smartwatch operating system, dubbed Android Wear 2.0. It’s not an emulated version of Android, so there should be a minimum number of issues, Chrome OS team leader Kan Liu told developers at the Google I/O conference. “And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac, and Linux, thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform”. When viewing a game, they can use the untethered controller to make items move within the virtual world – whether they’re flipping pancakes or steering a dragon’s flight across the sky. But Google has already forged an alliance with Unity Technologies, a development platform with 4.5 million registered developers, to create apps for Daydream. It’s possible – cellular-connected Chromebooks have traditionally been the red-headed stepchild of the platform and supporting the connections for Android users could prove popular. It has been noted that the tech company is preparing to launch a massive modification that will allow Android OS to work with Chrome.
One of the big insights to emerge from Google I/O was the claim by IDC that more Google Chromebooks were sold in the first quarter of 2016 than all of Apple’s Mac line. There is a whole class of apps that users only use once and are forced to download them. Observed Liu: “I’m not saying you should do this, but you can actually write your term paper and get your snaps, all on the same device without ever having to take your phone out of your pocket”. Passwords that are synced to Chrome can also be shared with Android apps, if they use Android’s Smart Lock feature. He added that the Android “addition” would be included in the next developer release of Chrome OS, M53, in the next few weeks, and then on to consumers later in the year when the bugs have been sorted out. Developers will also now get access to pre-launch reports, which gives results of the app’s performance in Google’s Firebase Test Lab.
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Dave Burke, VP of Engineering, at the keynote on Wednesday had explained the new “Seamless Update”, “The next time a user powers up their device, new devices can automatically and seamlessly switch into the new updated system image”.
