Google today announced plans to kill off the Chrome app launcher for Windows, Mac, and Linux in July. The tool, which lets users launch Chrome apps even if the browser is not running, will continue to live on in Chrome OS.
Chrome App Launcher, free and safe download. Chrome App Launcher latest version: Free Add On for Chrome Users. Chrome App Launcher is a special add on that is available to users of Google Chrome. If you already have the Epic Games Launcher use the 'Open' button otherwise download the Epic Games Launcher to play. Open Epic Games Launcher. Mac users on the Google Chrome Dev Channel are now able to download and enable the Chrome App Launcher. The feature, which was rolled out to Windows users earlier this year, gives instant access to installed web apps, shortcuts, bookmarks and search results without the need to open Chrome itself.
As you might suspect, the Chrome app launcher was originally ported from Chrome OS. Google first started experimenting with bringing the app launcher to its desktop browser in May 2013. The Chrome app launcher debuted on Windows in July 2013, followed by OS X in December 2013, and finally Linux in July 2014.
But the functionality is about to disappear. In a few weeks, when a user installs their first Chrome app, the browser will no longer enable the launcher by default. If you already have the Chrome app launcher, you will receive a notification explaining that it is going away. In July, existing instances of the launcher will be completely removed for all desktop users.
So why is Google removing the Chrome app launcher from Chrome? Well, it turns out Google has finally figured out what everyone all already knew: “we’ve found that users on Windows, Mac, and Linux prefer to launch their apps from within Chrome.”
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is very similar to what Google said when it announced plans to remove the notification center from Chrome. Again, people just weren’t using it: “In practice, few users visit the notification center.”
What Is Chrome App Launcher
Indeed, in today’s announcement, Google referred to the removal of the notification center as part of “Chrome’s continued emphasis on simplicity and streamlining browser features.” Google has been slowly but surely peeling back features that have made Chrome feel like more than just a browser. In other words, functionality that made Chrome “bloated” — a term power users reserve for software that gets overloaded with extra features. It looks like the company is finally realizing that users don’t want a browser-operating system hybrid on top of their existing operating system.
To be clear, Chrome apps are not going away. You can still launch an app by either clicking on its shortcut in the bookmarks bar or by typing chrome://apps in the omnibox and selecting it.
How startups are scaling communication: The pandemic is making startups take a close look at ramping up their communication solutions. Learn how
François Beaufort, an engineer at Google, has revealed that the company is working on bringing the Chrome OS app launcher to Mac OS X. No exact release date has been given for the final version, though Beaufort does point towards a beta version that is available for download now. Chromium will need to be installed before one gets the beta Chrome app launcher on OS X. The app launcher presents users a very simple and easy way to launch Chrome web apps.
Advertising
Once Chromium is installed, clicking on its dock icon will bring up a list of web apps installed from Chrome store. Through this list any web app can be launched. The caveat with this beta version is that once one app has been launched, and if another is to be launched, it can only be done through the Chrome browser window. Not through the list which pops up when the Chromium dock icon is clicked. This final version will obviously work exactly the way it will be supposed to, but there’s no saying when Google will ultimately release it.
Chrome App Launcher Mac Download Mac
Filed in . Read more about Chrome, Chromium, Google and OS X.