Chromebooks are the new trend these days. They are lightweight, good looking and cheap. If you are in the market for a new laptop and your usage do not include running heavy Softwares like video editors, Photoshop, etc. or playing games, then, trust me, you are better off with a Chromebook.
A Chromebook runs on Google’s Chrome OS, so you get all the Google goodies with it, which are more than enough to perform your day-to-day activities like browsing, watching movies, listening music, and even word processing. People realize this, and that’s why Chromebook sales have now overtaken Apple’s Mac OS X sales in the US for the past year.
In Google I/O 2016, Google announced that soon users will be able to run Android apps on Chromebooks. I don’t know if you realize this or not, but this is huge; for both the consumers and Google. Consumers get all the Android goodies on their Chromebooks, making it more usable and desirable, which will, eventually, increase the sales for Google.
As of writing this article, there is only one Chromebook that is compatible with the Google play store – Asus Chromebook Flip. Other Chromebooks will also get support for it in the near future. With that said, if you have a Chromebook, here’s how to install Android apps on it.
- First, you need to enable Dev channel in your Chromebook. The Chrome OS 53 alpha version is the update that brings Android app support to Chromebooks, but it is available for use only under the Dev channel. Do it at your own risk as this version is unstable.
- Now go to the Chromebook’s settings and click on “About Chrome OS”. Next, click on “More info” under the “Check for and apply updates” and then click on “Change channel”. Now, select the radio button next to “Developer – unstable” and click “Change channel” to confirm your choice.
- Restart your Chromebook. Once it’s on, you will see the Google play store icon on the bottom shelf.
- The Google play store is on your Chromebook now, but it’s not ready to function yet. Now you have to enable Android apps to run on your Chromebook. To do this, head to settings, and check the box next to “Enable Android Apps to run on your Chromebook”.
Now all that’s left is opening the Google play store and installing your favorite apps. The store on Chromebook functions similarly to that of Android so you won’t face any problem in finding and installing the apps.
So, that’s basically it. It’s cool, though. If your Chromebook isn’t compatible with the Google play store yet, just wait, it will soon be.
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