Google has announced that they are adding Android apps to Chromebooks. Later this year developers can expand their app’s reach to a new hardware platform and wider audience while maximizing the Google Play ecosystem.
With expanded app availability, new use cases and improved workflows can be achieved for all Chromebook users, whether for personal use, for work or for education.
Administrators can manage Android apps on Chromebooks using the same Admin Console. In addition to whitelisting or push installing specific apps to users, admins can selectively enable them for parts of their organization while disabling in others.
Android apps on Chromebooks will initially ship with Marshmallow APIs but it’s still a good idea to start planning for N’s new APIs and behaviours, which will have several improvements
Google list the following benefits:
- Android Apps can be shown in 3 different window sizes to allow the best experience
- Users can multi-task with multiple Android apps in moveable windows along with a full desktop browser, all within the familiar Chrome OS interface.
- Keyboard, mouse, and touch input will seamlessly work together
- Users will get Android notifications on their Chromebooks
- Android apps benefit from the Wifi or Bluetooth connectivity setup by the user or the administrator
- File sharing is seamless between Chrome and Android apps through the Files app
- Performance of demanding apps such as games or design apps is excellent
Developers wishing to learn more about optimizing Android Apps for Chromebooks can learn more here.
Google will also be bringing Google Play over to Chromebooks. These new features will be available on a wide variety of Chromebooks, as well as Chromeboxes and Chromebases.
A full list of supported Chromebooks can be found here
