The reality of open source: Now pretty much any Android app can run on Chrome browser on any platform

It was just over a week ago when Google announced an initial set of Android developed apps were integrated with Android Runtime for Chrome, ARC (Beta), enabling those apps to run on a Chromebook. Making good on announcements made during Google I/O, the idea was that Google would work with “select groups” of Android developers to allow more Android apps to operate on Chrome, and provide a more seamless experience.

As you know, the Android Open Source Project, and Chrome OS are both, well, open. ARC is out in the wild so-to-speak, and the computer wizards have pretty much wrested control from Google because now, not only is there a custom Chrome apk file available, it also can be used to allow Android apps to operate on anything with a Chrome browser, like a PC or Mac.

Google was certainly thinking of being a little more methodical in implementing Android apps with ARC, but such as the reality of open source. People will do things with the good work and apply ideas that are simply out of the norm.

For those that have the acumen to incorporate such software, the second source link will connect you to the ARChron Custom Runtime Guide on GitHub. If you decide to tinker with it in a Chrome browser in Windows, Ubuntu, or OS X, it is probably going to be unstable, but should enable the ability to run an unlimited number of Android APKs in a Chrome browser environment.



sources: Gigaom and GitHub