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I might actually use Android Apps on my Chromebook

By 10 Comments

by John Sowash
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I have been following the integration of Android and ChromeOS since it was merely a rumor (check out these posts). Overall, I have been underwhelmed by the addition of Android apps on my Chromebook.




Access to Android on my Chromebook has had no impact on my daily routines… until recently.

On a whim, I installed the Google Classroom Android App. I rarely use it. But then I noticed that I was getting very detailed notifications from the courses I am facilitating, which was quite helpful. I get notifications of comments, late assignments, and new posts in the notification window of my Chromebook. The web-based version of Classroom does not offer these detailed notifications.

Next, I installed the Android versions of Basecamp and Slack, both offer superior notifications compared with their web-based versions.




Mobile devices have much better notification settings and capabilities than computers. Adding the Android app for tools that I use give me more control over when and how I am notified.

This is the first time I have actually benefited from running Android apps on my Chromebook. Perhaps there is some benefits to the merging of Android and ChromeOS. What do you think?

Buy The Chromebook Classroom on Amazon

  • This is really a problem with individual software products, not Chrome OS, Android, or Web platforms, each of which provide push notification capability.

  • James Symmonds

    I’m wondering how Snapseed is on a Chromebook? If it works, I might be able to ditch my large laptops finally.

    • wayne anon

      Snapseed works great for me on my Samsung Chromebook 3. Same as on my android phone.

      • James Symmonds

        Excellent! Glad to hear that. I’m on an Asus 302 so I’ll have to go Beta but this is really the one app I want.

  • I was in the same boat, really preferring most web-based apps. I do love push bullet so I can receive my SMS messages from my phone right on my Chromebook, but then about a month ago I tried Play Books Android app, and wow what an interface. I’ve used the Kindle app and was not impressed but Google books and new stand on Chromebook via the Android app is a super experience. Love the note taking interface that automatically uploads my notes to Google docs. Amazing. J

  • Mike

    I’ve been noticing the same thing, but not yet from my Chromebook.
    I think it’s probably got a lot to do with the development environment that Google has built for their appstore. A LOT less buy-in for the new walled garden and the feature set is nicely acquitted already.
    There may be a horse race starting here. If the big webhosting sites start getting tools on par with the Android IDE, things could get interesting quickly.
    Of course, they’ll probably have similarly gilded restraints that make people believe they’re “thinking outside the box” simply because they don’t see the larger box in which they’re stuck. I guess perception is reality.
    Still, I’m looking forward to using Android apps on the old Chromebook. I’m still hoping that it’s not TOO old, I’d rather not buy a new one just to be able to use apps on it.

  • Greg

    I started using Inbox Android app because it uses less RAM than the web version. Also swiping away emails is nice. I find Android slack works better overall too. Android Play Music also works better on my Flip. I basically tried the Android version of a lot of my web apps I use, and surprisingly found many of them work better. I think this is probably especially true on Chromebooks with touch screens and arm chips.

  • RB

    That my CB+ doubles as an Android tablet was half my reason for buying one. That Chromebooks couldn’t handle Android apps was a massive gap, especially when trying to carve out a market against some big, established players.

  • Which Chromebooks are you guys using?

    Thanks!

  • Pssst3

    Im praying that the Playstore is an optional addon function. I dont want to give up storage for a second OS, one less secure that ChromeOS. I don’t mind running Android on an isolated tablet or phone, but I dont want to deal with unvetted apps that can access tye hardware of my CB.

    I havent seen where Google has clarified how Android is prevented from accessing external storage or files stored by ChromeOS on Drive. Becsuse of this I use a separate account for each OS.

    i trust that th,e CB is secure from malicious app behavior betwen restarts with 100% ChromeOS. I can’t say the same of Android running simultaneously on the same hardware. Goggle has never stated Android to be a secure platform.

    I would much rather that Android was to be installed as a dual boot option, with a second dedicated data partition.