Google’s Play Store And Entire Android App Catalog Coming To Chrome OS

A couple of years ago, Google introduced its "App Runtime for Chrome" - ARC for short. With it, the company allowed certain Android apps to be ported over to Chrome OS, helping bolster that platform's software portfolio. Since then, we've seen ARC help apps come to other platforms, including Windows and Mac OS X.

Since its introduction, it's felt a bit like ARC would eventually lead up to allowing all Android apps to run on Chrome OS, and thanks to a new leak, we've received the first hint that it could happen sooner rather than later.

Image Source: InauspiciousPagan

The upcoming feature was discovered by reddit user TheWiseYoda, who was a bit baffled when a prompt revealed that it would allow him to "Enable Android Apps to run on your Chromebook." The problem is that the dialog box disappears within the blink of an eye, so it's impossible to opt-in. However, another user, InauspiciousPagan, added something even more valuable: an actual screenshot (seen above).

This prompt couldn't be more clear: "Google Play store now on your Chromebook". This move would suddenly increase Chrome OS' software choices by the millions, which should include games as long as there are no caveats we're unaware of. Unfortunately, even if you were to see this prompt right now, we're not sure it'd actually lead you anywhere.

Google's next I/O conference takes place in just under a month, so it might be a safe bet that we'll learn more about the feature there. Still, if that's when Google decides to announce this, it's kind of impressive to learn about it nearly an entire month in advance.