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Seven years ago, Google announced that it would phase out all Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux by 2018 (it would actually take until 2023). In its place would be what the company called Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), web apps that can be installed on a user's desktop that act as if they are practically natural apps and programs. The idea grew quickly, with Chrome users having installed PWAs in record numbers by the beginning of 2022. Soon, every website will be installable on desktops through PWAs.
Here's why the new Xbox Cloud Gaming PWA for Chromebooks is such a huge upgrade
Still in beta, but 1080p support is finally here
Over the last two years, I've had the opportunity to test most game streaming services on an assortment of awesome Chromebooks. While many of these streaming services are still growing, I've had the chance to watch as they grow with incremental improvements. This means I'm familiar with the likes of Luna, GeForce, and even Stadia, along with Xbox Cloud Gaming. But Xbox Cloud Gaming has been in beta the entire time it's been available, which never looked great on higher-res screens since it was locked to 720p.
Google Chrome is testing much more informative PWA install prompts on desktop
More details could simplify install decisions
Progressive Web Applications (or PWAs) are an ideal middle ground for devs looking to bring their content to as many people as possible; you get the user experience associated with a standalone app, and their functionality can be relatively easy to implement. Although this has made PWAs immensely popular, Chrome for desktop hasn't been providing a ton of information when you go about installing them, potentially deterring users with obtuse messages. Now it looks like Google is finally doing something about that.
You can now uninstall Chrome web apps through Windows system settings, but there’s a catch
Better than nothing
Last week Google released Chrome 99, which includes plenty of optimizations and improvements to keep the browser machinery well-oiled. One of the new features it picked up introduces the ability to uninstall Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) right from Windows settings, just like you'd do with a native Windows program. While that sure sounds great in theory, it turns out there's a bit of a catch in just how it works.
Chrome 93 is all about convenience, progressive web apps, and glimpses of Material You (APK Download)
Cross-device OTP support, tons of PWA improvements, and first few glimpses of Material You incoming
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Google has released Chrome 93 to the stable channel, and it should start to roll out to your phone and computer as we speak. We're in for quite a few changes, with Material You design elements, new flags to try, better cross-platform communication when it comes to SMS OTP codes, prettier (or at least more useful) windows for web apps, and much more. Here's a rundown of all the changes we spotted.
What's new in Chrome 92 (APK Download)
Better performance meets more security and tons of new features
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Google releases new Chrome builds every six weeks, and the latest version to launch is Chrome 92. The new browser is available for download since yesterday, and it comes filled to the brim with interface experiments, security improvements, web app enhancements, and performance upgrades. Here's what you need to know.
The new Zoom PWA for Chrome OS is now available on the Play Store
You can even access it on Windows or install it on Android
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It's odd that after a year of both video conferencing apps and Chromebooks having an absolute boom, the official Zoom app for Chrome and Chrome OS is still so much of a bust. Users frequently complain of missing and relatively simple features, like displaying the contact list and starting direct messages, or the ability to call out to VOIP phones. Zoom has heard your frustration, and it's planning on introducing a new Progressive Web App this week.
Three hidden Chrome OS 91 features you should enable right now
Quality of life improvements to your Chromebook
It's been a few days since Chrome OS 91 landed on Chromebooks, which introduced helpful features like Nearby Share and a competent media player. Following its release, we've been digging into the new update and uncovering even more that could improve your Chromebook experience. Here are three experimental but helpful features we've found that you can try right now.
Here's what's new in Chrome 91
Prettier buttons, OTP autofill improvements, battery-saving optimizations, and much more
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Chrome 91 has just hit the first few phones, and while you might not notice too many differences on the surface, there are quite some things going on if you know where to look. The most significant visual changes you'll see on Android are probably the redesigned website buttons and forms, like those you can see in the weekend polls of our own website. But there's more going on. Let's dive in.
PWAs are inching a step closer to feeling native on Chromebooks
App shortcuts further narrow the gap between web apps and their native counterparts
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) have seen tremendous growth over the years thanks to the rapid adoption of modern web APIs. Combined with enhanced capabilities and improved reliability, PWAs are closer than ever to delivering app-like experiences on the web. Microsoft and Google improved upon this even further last year with app shortcuts, offering quick access to a handful of tasks for PWAs. The feature became available for Chrome and Edge last year, but it lacked support for Chrome OS. It looks like this is about to change.
Telegram's ancient web app is probably getting close to retirement
Fortunately, that's because replacements appear nearly ready to go
Telegram Web has always been a great fallback when you're not on your own computer or using a platform that doesn't properly supports any of the beautiful native apps the social network offers (looking at you, Chrome OS), but it's far from pretty. It looks dated compared to the other Telegram apps and doesn't offer newer features like stickers and voice calls. That's where two new Telegram web applications come in — they feel much more modern, come with tons of animations, and they support stickers.
Many Google websites are already Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which allows you to easily add them to your desktop or taskbar and use them in their own tab-less windows like native apps. Following YouTube Music and YouTube TV, the regular YouTube website is now also one of these PWAs, as 9to5Google spotted.
Chrome PWAs will soon behave more like native apps on Windows
A feature that's been in the works for a while now
Google has been a big proponent of progressive web apps for a while now, utilizing PWAs for everything from Google Chat's desktop application to getting Stadia running on Apple devices. Now a change is coming to Chrome for Windows that will let PWAs perform more like traditional Windows apps in one key area: the uninstall process.
Some web apps from the Play Store can now run in Firefox Nightly
Trusted Web Activities are no longer bound to Chrome
Google introduced a new way for developers to package web applications into Android apps last year, called Trusted Web Activities. The web apps run inside a modified Chrome Custom Tab, which meant that if your default browser wasn't Chrome (or based on Chrome), they would default to running in Google's browser. Firefox for Android has now added support for TWAs, so if Firefox is your default browser, the apps will run inside a Firefox container instead of Chrome.
Chrome 84 removes Duet interface, tests bottom tab switcher, blocks some intrusive notifications, and more (APK Download)
Rest in peace, Chrome Duet
Chrome 84 entered beta just a few weeks ago, but it's already rolling out on the stable channel across all platforms. This is one of the most significant Chrome updates we've seen in a while, with a few removed features and new functionality for both regular people and developers. Let's dive right in!
Microsoft's PWABuilder makes submitting web apps to the Play Store easier than ever
Developers don't need the full Android Studio to generate web wrappers
'Web wrappers,' or web applications haphazardly packaged into native apps for distribution on app stores, have existed on Android for over a decade. Google created a new method for converting web apps into native apps last year, with the introduction of Trusted Web Activities, and now Microsoft has updated its PWABuilder tool to take advantage of newer web features.
YouTube Music gains the ability to start playback directly from album covers on the web
Hopefully the ability to cast personal playlists is up next
YouTube Music may not have had the most auspicious beginnings, but the service is quickly adding features ahead of Google Play Music's impending shutdown. Earlier this month the Explore tab started rolling out on the web, then the Android app gained a new 'Related' tab, and just last week it added the ability to swipe between songs. Now YouTube Music on the web is gaining a small speed improvement to album playback.
YouTube Music's new Explore tab starts rolling out on the web
Plus a new special playlist for the hottest recently released songs
A couple of months ago, YouTube Music began rolling out a new Explore section to replace its useless and silly Hotlist tab. It was limited to the mobile app for a while, but it's now beginning to show up on the web and in the desktop Progressive Web App.
Twitter is making it easier to manage your tweets and replies before you're ready to send them out. The company has announced that its web app now supports saving drafts and scheduling tweets for a later time, something that's only been available through third-party services or Twitter for Business earlier.
Progressive Web Apps might not be able to replace every kind of native application, but they can be viable replacements for some apps written with the Electron web wrapper technology. The desktop app for Google's business-focused Chat app was previously written in Electron, but now the company has replaced it with a shiny PWA.