Back in September last year, we reported on the launch of Google’s new Chrome Apps, as the internet giant sought to establish the Web browser as more of a platform within itself. While the new apps are similar to what the Chrome Web Store already offered, rather than appearing like a Web app, they now look and feel more like desktop apps, insofar as they have no address bar or navigation buttons.
Moreover, Chrome Apps can work offline, can deliver desktop notifications, and they let you interact with your connected devices, via USB or Bluetooth.
With that in mind, Google has announced the deprecation of legacy packaged apps, meaning that as of yesterday, no new legacy packaged apps can be made available on the Chrome Web Store. Furthermore, all existing legacy packaged app listings “will be removed from Chrome Web Store’s search and browse” in December this year. These apps can still be updated, however, until Chrome stops loading them altogether in June 2015.
What does this mean? “Developers are strongly encouraged to migrate their legacy packaged apps to either Chrome Apps or extensions,” explains Amanda Bishop, Product Manager at Google. And you can learn how to do that right here.
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