Google has provided an updated timeline for when Chrome apps will stop working on all platforms, including Chrome OS. June 2022 is the official end of Chrome apps, but some platforms may lose them earlier than that.
If your response is “What’s a Chrome app?” you aren’t alone.
Google launched Chrome apps back in 2013 as a form of packaged app built with HTML5, CSS and JavaScript that would offer a similar experience to native applications. In other words, it’s a web-based app users install in Chrome, but it looks and functions like an app you’d launch from your desktop. These differ from Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) which are effectively cached websites with some offline functionality that users can save to their phone or computer and launch like a normal app.
However, this isn’t the first time Google shared plans to kill Chrome apps. Back in 2016, Google announced it would end support for Chrome apps on Windows, macOS and Linux. At the time, it said about one percent of users on those platforms actively used Chrome apps.
As the first step of that plan, Google removed the web apps category from the Chrome Web Store in 2017. It also planned to kill Chrome apps on Windows, Mac and Linux in 2018, but that never happened.
Below is the new timeline for the shutdown that Google provided:
- March 2020: Chrome Web Store will stop accepting new Chrome apps. Developers will be able to update existing Chrome apps through June 2022.
- June 2020: End support for Chrome apps on Windows, Mac and Linux. Customers with the Chrome Enterprise or Education upgrades will have access to a policy to extend support through December 2020.
- December 2020: End support for Chrome apps on Windows, Mac and Linux.
- June 2021: End support for NaCI, PNaCI and PPAPI APIs. Also end support for Chrome apps on Chrome OS. Customers with Chrome Enterprise or Education upgrades will have access to a policy to extend support through June 2022.
- June 2022: End support for Chrome apps on Chrome OS for all customers.
In other words, by June 2022, Chrome apps will no longer be available on any platform, including Chrome OS. That last part is new since previously Google only revealed plans to end support on Windows, Mac and Linux.
If you still use Chrome apps, it may be time to search for an alternative. It won’t be too much longer before it’s gone. That said, it’s important to note that this won’t affect things like extensions, which Chrome will continue to support.
Via: The Verge
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