The evolution of Chrome packaged apps

The evolution of Chrome packaged apps: Just over a month ago, at Google I/O, we announced significant changes to Chrome’s packaged application platform. These changes are intended to allow apps to break out of the browser, work offline by default, and enabzle richer, more immersive experiences.

Check out our overview video for a quick intro to the new platform. 

With the latest version of Chrome in the developer channel, you can build, load, debug and test your apps without command-line flags, although you may need to enable experimental APIs in some cases. Because we’re still in developer preview mode, the Chrome Web Store doesn’t yet accept uploads of these new packaged apps. We’ll enable web store support later this year, and when we flip that switch, users will be able to discover and download your apps directly from the store.

In order to get started building apps, visit our developer documentation at developer.chrome.com/apps and check out our growing list of sample applications on Github (thanks for the pull requests; keep them coming). If you’d like to reach us while you’re building apps, you can join us on the #chromium-apps Freenode IRC channel, join the chromium-apps group or report an issue.

We’re also starting a regular weekly hangout every Tuesday at 9:30am (Pacific Time). Our first one will take place on Tuesday, August 14th. You can add a reminder to your calendar and then tune in at Google Developers Live. And be sure to add +Google Chrome Developers to your circles to keep up on the latest from the Chrome team.

Posted by Mike Tsao, Evolved Software Engineer

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