How to play with Google Chrome Web Apps right now
by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Jul 3rd 2010 at 1:00PM
Over at TechCrunch, MG Siegler has posted images of some Chrome Web apps installed and working in Chromium -- but it's worth knowing that you can already play with a handful of apps in Google Chrome as well. If you're running the Chrome dev channel, here's how you do it.First, add some command line switches to your Chrome shortcut:
--enable-apps : turns on extension apps, otherwise you'll get an error when you try to install them.
--apps-panel : (optional) instead of loading the new tab page, Chrome will display a floating panel above the current tabIf you need help adding command line switches to Google Chrome, check our how-to post!
Now, on to the good stuff: installing the trio of Google apps!
Here's a (not-so-well-kept) secret: Google Chrome has been shipping a handful of extension/web apps for quite some time. They're hiding in a folder called resources -- which you'll find in your Chrome profile folder. On Windows, look in %localappdata%\Chromium\Application\6.0.428.0\Resources. Linux users can check in /opt/google/chrome/resources/.
Mac users, feel free to share the path in the comments! Scroll to the end to see the Mac version, contributed by Spenser Jones! Our thanks!!Remember that path... you're going to need to browse to it three times (assuming you want to install all three apps).
Head to your Google Chrome extensions tab (chrome://extensions) and make sure you see the developer mode buttons above. If you don't, click the plus next to the text to reveal them.Now click load unpacked extension... and drill down to the folder you located above.
Click into the folder of the app you want to install (like gmail_app), then click OK. If the install is successful, Chrome will refresh your Extensions page and you should now see the icon for the app.
** Alternatively, you can paste the full path into the Folder: text box if you wish -- just browse to the app in your file manager and copy the full path once you're inside an_app folder (e.g. C:\Users\Lee\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\6.0.453.1\Resources\gmail_app) .
Now, let's load an app! Just click the new tab button (or press ctrl + t) and click one.
Sexy, no? Notice the difference in the tabs? App tabs don't use crummy little favicons -- they use full-color .PNG images which are packed with the apps.
As for the actual differences, you'll have to help me out -- point out what you notice in the comments! So far, the Google apps seem to work the same as a pinned tab -- just with nicer icons.
Spenser's Instructions for Mac users (you should be able to simply substitute Chrome for Chromium if you're running the dev channel):
- Open your /Applications folder, and right click on Chromium.app, then choose "Show Package Contents"
- Navigate to Contents/MacOS, and rename Chromium to Chromium-Exec
- Create a file called Chromium, with the contents (its two lines): #!/bin/sh exec /Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium-Exec --enable-apps --apps-panel $@
- Open terminal and run chmod +x /Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium
- Restart Chromium
- Navigate to Chromium.app/Contents/Versions/{Your Version}/Chromium Framework.framework/Resources in finder
- Open the extension manager, click "Developer Mode", and click "Load Unpacked Extension"
- Drag the folder of the app you want (eg. gmail_app) from finder into the open dialog of Chromium, click Open
- Repeat until you've added all the apps you want
Saturday, July 3, 2010
How to play with Google Chrome Web Apps right now
Chrome Web Apps Coming Along Quite Well. Some Already Work
One of the big announcements at this year’s Google I/O was that a new Chrome Web Store was being built. Think of it as Apple’s App Store or the Android Market but for web apps. In it, you’ll be able to purchase (or download for free) and install apps that can run in Google’s Chrome web browser. Google would only commit to the store and apps being ready “later this year,” but work on app compatibility for Chrome progressing quite nicely.
Builds of Chromium (the open source browser behind Chrome) have actually been able to run early apps for weeks now. The ability is still hidden behind a flag, but if you go here you can figure out how to turn on the functionality. As you can see in the screenshots below, these builds allow you to install apps (you can find some here) that then reside on your main “Most visited” Chrome page (the one with web page thumbnails for sites you often visit). From here, you can click on any of these apps to launch them in a new pinned tab.
Obviously, this isn’t as simple as it’s going to be with the full Web Store in place. But it’s still not too bad either. Clicking on a link to an app brings up a prompt to ask if you’d like to install it — just like you get when you install a Chrome extension. An overlay at the top of the browser then lets you know when the app is installed.
Eventually, it looks as if installed apps will have different looking tabs than regular pinned web pages (for now they look the same). It also looks like the UI for these apps will be a lot nicer by the time things launch, and there will be an easier way to delete apps from the page they reside on (see bottom image).
One quick note: the latest builds of Chromium for Mac appear to have the way to get to apps disabled. So you might want to try an older version from early June. At least one thread warns that apps might be available on the Windows versions of Chrome first, and Mac and Linux later.
[thanks Joe]
Information provided by CrunchBase
Monday, June 28, 2010
Video: An early look at Chrome OS booting
Filed under: OS Updates, Google
Video: An early look at Chrome OS booting
by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Jun 28th 2010 at 12:00PM
First things first: yes, this is, in fact, Chromium OS and not Chrome OS. Chances are good that we won't see Google's semi-closed Chrome OS for a few more months, but Chromium is something you can play with now -- and it provides a good look at what you can expect from its cousin.Over the next few days, I'm going to share screenshots and videos from my compile. My build uses the "plain vanilla" x86-generic hardware overlay, and runs reasonably well on my Gateway LT21 netbook. I'm running from a crappy, generic USB flash drive -- and I'm fairly certain the momentary hiccups I experience would go away if I moved to a faster SD card, flash drive, or SSD.
So without further ado, take the jump and have a look at part 1: the boot process!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Dell and Google talking about Chrome OS (as they should be)
Dell and Google are already sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. The computer company currently offers Android on its Aero smartphone and Streak tablet. But a Reuters report is stating that Dell is “in talks” to offer Google’s upcoming desktop software in a computer as well — sometime.Reuters,
“There are going to be unique innovations coming up in the marketplace in two, three years, with a new form of computing, we want to be on that forefront … So with Chrome or Android or anything like that we want to be one of the leaders,” Midha said, adding that there were no firm announcements to be made but talks were underway.
But that’s about all we have and isn’t much of a story at that. This report doesn’t suggesting that Dell will be a launch partner for the OS launch, but is simply talking with Google to eventually bring Chrome OS to its lineup. Chances are every single computer manufacturer is doing the same thing. If they aren’t, they’re doing it wrong.
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