Google has announced that it will stop accepting Chrome apps starting March 2020 and will be shutting down support for them altogether in Chrome OS by 2022.

Chrome apps were launched back in February 2013 featuring support for almost all operating systems such as Windows, Linux as well as Android and iOS. These apps use HTML5, CSS and Javascript, which makes them able to deliver the same experience as compared to native apps.

Chrome apps extend the development capacity by integrating into the desktop, which makes them look more like desktop applications rather than the traditional web apps, making them useful for the device manufacturers as well as educators.

However, as Google views the web platform as the next step towards evolution, it’s putting more faith into the power of modern browsers, which also work in the same use cases.

Timeline for phasing out Chrome apps

Following is the schedule that Google announced to phase out support to Chrome apps starting from March of this year.

• March 2020: Developers won’t be able to register new apps on the Chrome Web Store. However, they can update the apps until June 2022.
• June 2020: Google will end support for Chrome apps on Windows, Mac and Linux. However, customers having Chrome Education upgrade and customers having Chrome Enterprise will get extended support until December 2020.
• December 2020: All Chrome support on Windows, Mac and Linux will end.
• June 2021: Support will end on NaCl, PNaCl, and PPAPI APIs. Along with that, Google will end Chrome apps support in Chrome OS. However, customers having Chrome Enterprise and the Chrome Education upgrade will continue to get support through June 2022.
• June 2022: Support will end for all Chrome OS users.

However, Google said that they would not withdraw support for the Chrome Extensions, which will continue on all platforms.

For additional details and updates, users can visit the Chrome Apps migration page, where Google will keep updating the latest developments.

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