Google announces the end of Chrome apps

Google announced that it will end support for Chrome apps in 2018.

This is news that’s unlikely to affect too many people. Google said that just 1% of its users across Windows, Mac, and Linux “actively use Chrome packaged apps, and most hosted apps are already implemented as regular Web apps.”

Google will start removing Chrome apps from the web store in the second half of next year. It will end support completely in 2018 and Google says that developers should migrate their current Chrome apps to the web.

“As the capabilities of the web continue to grow, we’re excited to see what developers build next,” Google VP of product development Rahul Roy-Chowdhury said. “Alongside other browser vendors, we remain committed to investment in the web and enabling users and developers to benefit from its openness and reach.”

It’s worth noting that extensions are not the same as Chrome apps, so the add-ons you currently use will continue to work as normal, provided that you’re not part of the 1%.