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As of this morning, it looks like 3 more models have been added to the quickly-growing list of Chromebooks seeing Android Apps arrive in the Dev Channel of Chrome OS. The methods vary a bit for the three, but its nothing we haven’t dealt with before.
While not everyone is going to be jumping to the not-so-stable Dev Channel, this is a harbinger of what could be a massive roll-out of the Play Store in one of the next big updates.
The latest devices to see the Play Store?
- Acer Chromebook 14
- Acer Chromebook 15
- ASUS C300
Gabriel and I were able to get the two Acer models – 14 and 15 – up and running with the same method that was necessary for the Dell Chromebook 13 a few weeks ago.
It looks like the ASUS C300 is much simpler: just change over to the Dev Channel and you are all set.
For the two Acer’s, you’ll need to follow the methods set forth in the Dell Chromebook 13 post. Follow that link, all the instructions, and take time to be sure you understand what you are getting into. That being said, it isn’t too tough and won’t take too long.
What is most important here is the fact that with each passing day, we are seeing more Chromebooks get the Play Store enabled. My guess is we’ll see more Chromebooks get Android Apps in the Stable Channel when Chrome OS 55 hits around the first week in December (near the 7th). My second assumption is that we will see the Play Store come out of Beta status and see full roll-out to supported devices in Chrome OS 56 (around January 18th).
Some of the Chromebooks we are eagerly awaiting may just as eagerly be awaiting a proper version of Chrome OS to release with. The Samsung Chromebook Pro comes to mind. I don’t see this device launching until Android Apps are available and fully-functional for consumer use right out of the box. There are some other reasons as well, but I seriously doubt we’ll see the Samsung Chromebook Pro until all this is sorted out fully.
With more devices seeing Android Apps, we can only assume all this trajectory is moving us forward to a place of full Android support in just a handful of weeks from now.
January can’t come fast enough!
