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It’s no secret that Android Apps will soon be coming to millions of Chromebooks all around the world. We were a little disappointed this week when Chrome OS 53 arrived on the stable channel sans the Play Store. But this is no reason to feel downtrodden. The fact is, Android Apps are on the way and they are on the way soon. Personally, I’m a little thankful that Google has delayed the release in order to work out bugs and make the user experience more pleasant.
While we have been waiting, one of our loyal readers has pointed out a very interesting finding on Samsung’s Chromebook website. Wayne Rice wrote to us letting us know that he had recently visited Samsung’s product page. As you can see in the photo above, the manufacturer is now advertising their Chromebooks as “Powered by Android.” This is good news and a good indicator that Android Apps are just beyond the horizon.
After a little research we found the Chromebook landing page for Samsung appears to have only been around for a little over a month. That gives us a good amount of confidence that Samsung’s decision to advertise Android Apps means it won’t be long before we see access to Play Store. As Wayne had pointed out, “I hadn’t noticed any other companies publicizing Android apps for Chromebooks.” It seems to be a positive sign that Samsung is privy to the upcoming release of what we’ve been anxiously awaiting for months now.
The down side of Samsung’s site is the fact that “Powered by Android” could be very misleading to the average consumer. These are Chrome OS devices plain and simple. Regardless of the future of these two operating systems, these are not Android ‘powered’ devices.
Which leads me to another point.
Currently, NONE of the Samsung Chromebooks support Android Apps and won’t until Google decides they are ready to release the update to the public. Additionally, only a handful of devices on the product page are on the list of devices that will receive the Play Store. Again, a little misinformation could go a long way. Only the Samsung Chromebook 3 and the Intel-based Chromebook 2 models make the cut.
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We’re excited to see the next evolution of Chrome OS and see this as one more sign on the road to the Play Store. Hopefully Samsung will make an attempt to better inform their customers about the devices they are selling.
Thanks again to Wayne Rice for the tip.
