Android apps will soon run on Chrome

Google has had the idea of ​​allowing Chrome OS to run Android apps for a long time, and put it into action in September last year, launching App Runtime for Chrome, abbreviated as ARC, which is an Android virtual machine running on Chrome OS. It itself is an application in the Chrome Web Store called ARC Welder.

Previously, this feature was only available to some developers who worked closely with Google. However, the experts soon discovered the huge potential of ARC: it can run on all desktop versions of Chrome, including Chrome OS, Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. This means that Google is planning to run Android apps on all computing platforms. After months of preparation, Google finally decided to take this step.

Google has recently decided to open ARC to all developers, and ARC can run in Chrome OS and Chrome browser. For PC users, users with Chrome browser version 40.0 or above can use it. In principle, anyone can submit an APK file to ARC Welder and then generate a Chrome app. However, when I tried to upload the WeChat and iFanr client installation packages, I failed many times and ARC Welder crashed.

From the Ars Technica article, we also learned that the realization of the ARC function and the smooth operation of Chrome apps and plug-ins are due to Chrome's NaCL sandbox technology - Native Client, which allows apps and plug-ins to call the system's CPU and GPU resources in a way similar to local applications, and also turns Chrome into a development platform. Google has injected the complete Android stack into NaCL, making it possible for the Chrome browser to run Android apps.

The biggest challenge for Chrome browser to run Android apps is compatibility with the Google Play Services API that Android apps rely on. From the official information, ARC has not yet achieved compatibility with all API interfaces, but the main ones have been supported:

Auth (OAuth2)
GCM
Google+ sign-in
Maps
Location
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In addition, in order to prevent users like me from having a strong desire to play, Google has set up the ARC Google Play Services option in the developer control panel, allowing developers to decide whether to enable it.

After a brief understanding of ARC, it is not difficult to find that it can realize cross-platform operation of Android apps, which is even further than the Universal Windows App supported by Windows 10. With the Chrome browser, ARC has extended its tentacles to almost all platforms. At the same time, it also uses the huge Android ecosystem to activate the Chrome Web Store, bringing more extensions to Chrome users, and the user experience across multiple platforms will be smoother and more seamless.

However, ARC is currently in the open beta stage and there are still many areas that need improvement. For example, ARC is based on the Dalvik virtual machine used in Android versions before 4.4, rather than ART enabled by Android 5.0. The API interface support for Google Play services is not rich enough, and important functions such as in-app purchases are not supported.