I'm doing some reading on Google Chrome stand-alone applications and I see they are distributed like Chrome Extensions, and by all means, they seem work just like Chrome Extensions, so I assume they will run on the major platforms that run Chrome, like Linux, Mac and Win. But, I don't see any official word on the supported platforms, is there such a reference point?
Chrome packaged apps are available in ChromeOS, Linux, Mac and Windows. You are right, there is no explicit information about it in our online documentation, but that's unintentional.
In fact, you can already run Chrome packaged apps in all platforms mentioned above. The way they are launched - through the Chrome New Tab - is going to change and will behave more like native apps. The current launching method is for developer preview only.
Related
Pretty simple question-- is it possible to create google chrome extensions via Chromium, and have that same extension be used with people running Chrome on different OS's?
I'm developing on Ubuntu.
Yes, it's perfectly possible; however, Chromium included in Ubuntu will probably seriously lag behind main Chrome versions.
You won't benefit from new APIs available to Chrome users, as well as be unable to test the extension for the majority of users.
Your best bet is, indeed, to install Chrome from Google's repositories.
So today, Google announced a desktop app launcher for its Google Drive service: http://googledrive.blogspot.ca/2014/11/launch-desktop-applications-from-google.html.
Any ideas on how they implemented this? I'd like to do the same for a personal project. I know there's a way in node-webkit to do something like this, but if this ever becomes a native capability within Chrome browser...
To quote the announcement:
To get started, install the latest version of the Drive app for Mac or PC (version 1.18) ...
They are using a native app (not a Chrome app) to provide the functionality. As such, they can do whatever they want.
You can replicate this with a Native Host + extension approach.
I'm working on a Chrome app, and I'm wondering if there is a way to offer customers a single downloadable package that will provide both Chrome (the browser) and my app.
You sometimes see this with Java and Adobe AIR apps. You can either download just the app (if you already have the JVM or AIR, respectively), or you can download a package that includes the app plus the runtime.
In this case, Chrome is the runtime. Is there a way to offer a single download that will install Chrome along with my app? I can offer that as an option for users who do not already have Chrome installed.
This is something that is being actively developed now. The bug to follow is https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=341353, but there isn't much visible there as it is being developed in an internal repository at Google.
My application requires Chrome users to have a specific extension installed
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clickonce-for-google-chro/eeifaoomkminpbeebjdmdojbhmagnncl
Using JQuery/JavaScript, how can I determine if this extension is installed? I've seen some mentions of using chrome.management.get but I haven't found any working examples.
The reason I need the extension is ClickOnce applications won't launch in chrome unless this is installed.
I am using custom sync options to synchronize only some of the artifacts from a Google chrome installation - just Bookmarks, Extensions and Open Tabs. All three are working on well on my two windows computers - but on the Linux machine, I am not getting the extensions. I have tried wiping the Linux Chrome data (by removing ~/.config/google-chrome/ and re-configuring it, the the problem remains the same.
I am wondering if there are any logs that the chrome browser produces that can give me a hint on what the problem might be.
Thanks a lot
Looks like this is not a bug but a "feature", different support of extension per OS, but seems there might be hope this is fixed in future releases see:
Chrome Web Store to get multi-platform app support for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and Chrome OS
Other Deployment Options