14 DAY TRIAL // Google is taking another step into turning Chrome into the go-to platform for everyone to use. The company has announced it launched a new type of apps in its Store – namely for desktop.
The new apps can be found in a separate category in the web store by those who use Windows or Chrome OS, with Mac support to come in about six weeks.
The new Chrome apps have the ability to work offline and they’re not dependable on the Chrome browser, which means you don't need to burden your computer with a bunch of Chrome tabs.
The apps will also have the ability to access and save documents, photos and videos on the hard drive, but also send items to the Google Drive and other web services, effectively backing up your data.
The Chrome apps come with the regular built-in security features such as Sandboxing, while also having with the ability to automatically update with the latest security fixes.
But while it’s possible to use them outside your browser window as distinct apps, they work offline and can sync across devices, they are still built on Chrome-specific code.
They can be launched quite easily with the help of the Chrome App Launcher which was released a while back.
In the launcher interface it’s easy to differentiate the apps that open up in your browser and those that can act as stand-alone – those that require Chrome to open have a shortcut arrow on the side, while the others don’t.
So far, there are only about 25 different apps in the desktop collection, but more are certainly going to get added to the list in the weeks to come.
There are several games, tools to create lists and notes, music and photo apps, fast-typing trainers, news and weather gadgets, to name just a few.