Google has announced that it will be gradually phasing out its Chrome apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This would mean that apps such as Pixlr Touch Up and some versions of the Angry Birds game, which came bundled as a feature of Chrome, will be phased out.
The search giant explains in its blog post that the Chrome apps were built three years ago to address the needs which the web couldn’t provide, such as working offline, sending notifications, and connecting to hardware.
There are two types of Chrome apps - packaged and hosted apps. The packaged apps, according to Google, are used by 1 per cent of users on non-Chrome operating systems and most hosted apps have been already implemented as regular web apps.
Support for the Chrome apps will be removed over the next two years but existing apps will remain available for sometime across platforms. Those published in late 2016 will be available only on Chrome OS systems. Google has asked developers to migrate their Chrome apps to the web.
In the second half of 2017, the Chrome Web Store will no longer show Chrome apps on other platforms, but will continue to surface extensions and themes. In early 2018, users on these platforms will no longer be able to load Chrome apps.
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