With Google’s newest announcement bringing Android apps to Chrome OS, that will likely draw more users into the fold. More often, a low-powered Chromebook runs faster than a low-powered Windows PC. The addition of Google Play is big as it means certain Chromebook owners can use Android apps and run the same programs on their low-priced laptops as they do on their smartphones and tablets. Users are becoming increasingly dependent on online tools versus on board software and Google’s own Google Docs are built right into Chrome OS.
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“Chrome OS overtook Mac OS in the U.S. in terms of shipments for the first time in 1Q16”, IDC analyst Linn Huang confirmed to The Verge, which pinned Chromebook sales at about two million for the first quarter of the year. Various manufacturers have created keyboards for their devices, but all have required sacrifices to ensure a small form is maintained which makes using them for a long period more hard than full-sized keyboards like those found on Chromebooks. This means that all the apps in the Google Play Store are now coming back to Chromebook devices.
While Chromebooks have been celebrated for their efficiency, price and speed, the lack of apps have inhibited by the lack of apps.
In other Chromebook developments, Google announced yesterday that it would be bringing its Google Play app store to Chromebooks, starting with a rollout to its developer channel. My 12-year-old daughter received a Dell Chromebook when she entered middle school, and ever since then, she’s barely picked up the cheap Windows-powered HP Stream we gave her a year ago.
The Google Chromebooks run the Chrome operating system, which is essentially a web browser. “Chrome OS overtook Mac OS in the United States in terms of shipments for the first time in 1Q16”, says Huang. This will start rolling out as of June 2016 and now we have the official Chromebook support list for Android Apps that you need to be aware of.
Microsoft debuted Android integration today for those in the “fast ring” of the Windows Insider program, but the company is limited in what data it can access.
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As of now, the company is sketchy on details, but it did say that “new hardware” that will support Android apps on Chrome OS is to be expected later this year. That all changes now that a Chromebook can also allow them to use their favorite Android apps. This means that downloading and using Android apps are now possible in a laptop.
