It was around last year that Google made an announcement, introducing the idea of having Play Store apps being supported on Chromebooks. For those who might speculate and call out their strategy, they’ll be happy to know that all Chromebooks releasing in 2017 will run Android apps.
That officially means that the best time to buy a new Chromebook would be, right now. This means all of the stunning Chromebooks we had witnessed at the CES 2017 event will be shipped with Play Store preloaded, according to report made by Ars Technica.
But some of the older Chromebooks won’t be left out as well. The Chromium project had released a list of older Chromebooks which will be given the capability to have Play Store installed on them, thereby allowing them to run everyone’s favourite Android apps and games. Although most Chromebooks nowadays will be shipped with their very own touchscreen, this update will also be compatible with those which do not come with a touchscreen, if Laptop Mag’s report is any indicator. It will also be known in the list of older Chromebooks which will receive the update to install Android apps. Among the classics that will support Android apps are the Acer Chromebook R11/C738T, the Google Chromebook Pixel 2, the Asus Chromebook Flip and others.
As far as Chrome OS upgrades are concerned, that still stays. Google’s guaranteed update policy for at least five years since the device’s launch is still in place. So if users of older Chromebooks aren’t able to install any Android apps, at least they’ll have the latest OS. Good going, Google!
Although some Chromebooks have already been given access to run Android Apps last year, this year, Google is making it possible for all of them that are launched. The news of this information had arrived on Google’s official list of Android app compatible Chromebooks. The highlight of this new feature is that this won’t need an update for Chromebooks to now run Android apps. It’ll be compatible right out of the box.
This looks like the next best thing to an Android laptop.