Why I still haven’t given up on getting Adobe Premiere Rush on my Chromebook

Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time editing social media videos for our other business, Proof Golf, with Adobe Premiere Rush, and I’ve been doing it almost exclusively on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The experience has been fantastic, but it’s also stirred up a familiar, long-dormant desire: I really wish the Adobe Rush app would finally become available for my Chromebook.

If you’ve been following ChromeOS for a while, you’ll know this isn’t a new request. In fact, back in 2020, it felt like we were on the verge of getting it, but for reasons we may never know, it just never happened. But as I’ve been tapping away on this foldable, I’ve started to feel a renewed sense of hope! Let me explain.

A history of hope and disappointment

We first started hearing about Project Rush coming to Chromebooks all the way back in 2018 when a representative from the company specifically stated that “even Chromebooks capable of running Android apps will be able to easily utilize Project Rush.” That was it – the spark was lit. We weren’t sure if it would be a web app or the Android version, but the promise was there.

Then in 2019, Premier Rush became officially available on Android, and we were told that Chromebook support was a “high priority” and that it was “coming very soon.” By 2020, that spark had become a flame. Users were finding ways to sideload the Rush APK on their Chromebooks, and we even saw the app pop up in the Beta channel of ChromeOS.

The evidence kept mounting. Google even used a marketing graphic of a Pixelbook Go clearly running Adobe Rush on their own website. I also vaguely recall Rush being part of a keynote presentation as a featured app around that time, too. All signs pointed to an official collaboration between Google and Adobe, and I was convinced the app’s arrival was inevitable.

And then… nothing. We waited, and we waited, and Adobe Rush never officially landed in the Play Store for Chromebooks. To this day, I periodically try to install it, and each time I’m met with the same “Adobe Premiere Rush by Adobe isn’t available on Google Play on this device” message. It’s been a massive disappointment.

The catalyst for change: The Android kernel

But my recent work on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has reignited my desire for Rush on a Chromebook. The Adobe Rush Android app is simply brilliant on the larger inner screen of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The layout is perfect, the buttons are easy to access, and it’s clear that the app has been well-optimized for tablet-sized displays. While I’ve had some success with CapCut on a Chromebook, the power of the Adobe ecosystem is undeniable. Having Rush on my Chromebook would allow me to leverage the Adobe Creative Cloud account for some seriously productive editing sessions.

This is where the new hope comes in. The biggest barrier for Android apps on ChromeOS has always been the containerized way they run, which can lead to performance issues and compatibility headaches for developers. But with the massive shift of ChromeOS to the Android kernel, that could all change. While we’re still waiting on all the details of how this will shake out, the logical conclusion is that running Android apps on a Chromebook should be a far more seamless and native experience. It should also make it easier for developers to deploy their apps without having to jump through extra hoops.

Seeing how well the Adobe Rush Android app already works on a large screen, I can’t help but wonder: will this shift to the Android kernel be the catalyst that finally pushes the app over the finish line for Chromebooks? We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m more optimistic than I’ve been in years. And this isn’t just about Rush; this could unlock the potential for so many other professional-grade Android apps that we’ve been waiting for. It’s from this perspective that I think the future of ChromeOS is looking very, very exciting.