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Google Will Wind Down Chrome Apps Starting in June (pcworld.com) 32

Posted by msmash from the end-of-road dept.
Google said this week that it will begin to phase out traditional Chrome apps starting in June, and winding down slowly over two years' time. Chrome extensions, though, will live on. From a report: Google said Tuesday in a blog post that it would stop accepting new Chrome apps in March. Existing apps could continue to be developed through June, 2022. The important dates start in June of this year, when Google will end support for Chrome Apps on the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Education and Enterprise customers on these platforms will get a little more time to get their affairs in order, until December, 2020. Google had actually said four years ago that it would phase out Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux in 2018. The company appears to have waited longer than announced before beginning this process. The other platform that's affected by this, of course, is Google's own Chrome OS and Chromebooks, for which the apps were originally developed.
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Google Will Wind Down Chrome Apps Starting in June More

Google Will Wind Down Chrome Apps Starting in June

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  • Chrome OS and the Chromebook ecosystem ?

  • Why do people still invest in the Google platform? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ZorinLynx ( 31751 ) on Thursday January 16, 2020 @02:35PM (#59627388) Homepage

    Google always shuts down or significantly changes their services after a few years. I can't imagine anyone who realizes this feeling safe developing on any Google platform, knowing their efforts will be for naught once Google kills it a few years later.

    Lately I refuse to use any Google cloud-based services because I simply don't know if it'll be around five years from now.

    They really need to offer services for the long haul if people are going to trust them.

    • This is also true of uP companies.
      Microchip really built a market based on not dropping or at least ensuring that new product would work in older designs.
      Intel, who has long wanted to break into something other than server and desktop, has pushed a ton of attempts at arduino or pi killers for embedded and IoT - but when they didn't immediately rule the world, dropped them with no reasonable migration path.

      And then wonders why no one designs them in. I'm sure you can come up with more examples...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by FunOne ( 45947 )

      They're killing it after 10 years.

      Of low adoption.

      And apps can just be converted extensions or PWAs.

      The general functionality isn't going away, just the name and how they're installed.

      I'm still bitter about reader too, but this isn't exactly Google taking a popular product out back and shooting it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by syousef ( 465911 )

        I don't think most people realize just how many products Google has killed. It isn't prudent to depend on their products being around in the medium term, no matter how cool.

        Take a look:
        https://killedbygoogle.com/ [killedbygoogle.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cowdung ( 702933 )

      Google always shuts down or significantly changes their services after a few years.

      I can't agree more with you.. you hit it right on the nail.

    • knowing their efforts will be for naught once Google kills it a few years later.

      If google kills it, it probably wasn't making you any money anyway...

  • From the article : According to Google, Chrome apps will be replaced by rich web apps,"

    So maybe the new Rich Web App, will boost the Purism 5 phone too !

  • Chromebook sales cratering in 5...4...3... (Score:3)

    by jddj ( 1085169 ) on Thursday January 16, 2020 @03:24PM (#59627538) Journal

    Wow.

    Was thinking about upgrading my Chromebook not a month ago. Glad I held off: I can ride this horse 'til it's dead, then make it a Linux laptop - albeit without most of what I like about Chrome OS.

    • Not the same thing.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Android on Chrome OS seriously sucks (take, f.e. that Android VPNs only protect traffic from the Android container...), and as someone who works in software development, I'm a skeptic on PWA's ability to deliver quality apps.

        Additionally, the ChromeOS apps I use daily will eventually stop functioning, while Google has to evangelise the creation of new apps for a platform from which they've recently walked away (by deprecating Chrome apps).

        What will I do for an SSH client in a PWA? How about my database clie

        • What will I do for an SSH client in a PWA?

          Install any of several web-based SSH apps [wikipedia.org] on the servers to which you have shell access.

          How about my database client?

          Do phpMyAdmin [phpmyadmin.net] and its counterparts for other DBMSes count? Granted, it's not "Progressive" in the sense that functionality remains if used offline, but the usefulness of offline access to a database server depends on where the database server is hosted.

          VNC client?

          Does noVNC [novnc.com] count?

          Each of these options requires installing software on the SSH, SQL, or VNC server to which you are connecting, even if only a WebSockets proxy. The other

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Paxtez ( 948813 )

          It sucks that they would be going away, but it was 2 years ago they announced it. They will still be supported for another ~2.5-3 years.

          That is a pretty good warning. Also would you have to upgrade Chrome in June 2022?

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • Will take most of your post as something to analyze more deeply, but sounds like you've never tried to actually configure OpenVPN on a Chromebook.

            Yes, it's "built in", in the sense that there's a thing called OpenVPN, but the configuration options are both a subset of what's needed for most services, and implemented in a bizzaro file format that's poorly-documented, and not compatible with regular OpenVPN config files.

            Additionally, if you attempt to configure with one of these OpenVPN config files, through

            • Comment removed based on user account deletion

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by jddj ( 1085169 )

                1. I do not, and would not consider using an Android OpenVPN client on ChromeOS for the reasons I've previously pointed out. I do not expect it to protect ChromeOS at all. It's Google that recommends this approach if you can't make their awful OpenVPN implementation work Talk to them about this lunatic idea, not to me.

                https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1282338?hl=en

                If you need to set up more advanced features of OpenVPN or import an ".ovpn" configuration file, and your Chromebook supports the Play Store, consider installing OpenVPN for Android instead of using the built-in OpenVPN client.

                On an Android device (like my phone), Android OpenVPN clients work fine.

                2. Sounds like you haven't actually configured ChromeOS OpenVP

    • Wow.

      Was thinking about upgrading my Chromebook not a month ago. Glad I held off: I can ride this horse 'til it's dead, then make it a Linux laptop - albeit without most of what I like about Chrome OS.

      There's no way Google is going to allow ChromeOS functionality to decrease. They wouldn't be making this move if that were a serious possibility. I'm sure all in-development apps will just become extensions. There's really not much difference between an app and an extension.

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