Android apps will be the best thing on your Chromebook

At Google I/O last month, Google announced plans to bring Android apps to select Chromebooks via the Google Play Store. 

Most consumers won't be able to get Android apps in Chrome OS until this fall, but anyone running the Developer channel version of Chrome OS can test it out starting Friday. Google's François Beaufort announced the Google Play Store and Android apps are rolling out to the Asus Chromebook Flip.

It's still early, but I'm stoked, so I dug out our Chromebook Flip and installed the Developer channel to try some Android apps on it.

Getting set up

Installing the Developer channel is easy, and anyone can do it. (It's not the stable version, so be aware that you may run into some bugs and performance issues.)

First, you'll have to reset your Chromebook Flip by following these steps. (IMPORTANT: You will lose all your files when you do this, so be sure to back them up to external storage before doing the factory reset). 

Log into your Google account, then open Settings by clicking on the time-Wi-Fi-battery panel in the lower-right corner of the screen. Click "About Chrome OS" at the top. 

Next, click "More info..." below the "Check for and apply updates." Then "Change channel." Here's where you'll change the channel from consumer "stable" to "Developer - unstable." 

Once you've switched, you may need to restart and log back in.

Next, go back into Settings and scroll down to a new section called "Android Apps." Check "Enable Android Apps to run on your Chromebook." This activates the Google Play Store icon that appears on the dock; the icon won't launch if you don't check off this setting.

After you've followed these steps, you can click the Google Play Store icon and start installing Android apps.

The Play Store

The Google Play Store running on Chromebooks looks exactly the same as on an Android tablet, meaning it's not a smartphone version simply blown up; the app is optimized for the screen size. (In this case, the Chromebook Flip basically functions like a 10.1-inch Android tablet.)

Sweet, but buggy

I installed and tested a handful of Android apps. Generally, most of them ran just like they do an Android tablet. Non-graphic intensive apps worked the best, and 3D games like Asphalt 8: Airborne and N.O.V.A. 3 were the worst, since the Flip isn't exactly powerful hardware.

The Chromebook Flip is a convertible Chromebook: It's a laptop, but its touchscreen and hinge allow the screen to fold over backwards to serve as a tablet. Android apps work best in tablet mode (at least for now) since most of them haven't been optimized for use with keyboard and mouse controls

A casual game like Pac-Man 256 was fun to play using the touchscreen, and guiding Pac-Man through the maze also worked surprisingly well using the arrow keys.

Another app that played well on the Chromebook was Clash of Clans, simply because its gameplay is perfect for use with a trackpad.

Not all Android apps ran on the Chromebook Flip, though. For example, many apps that are reliant on the camera won't work. I couldn't even install Instagram.

Instagram's terms and conditions restrict users to uploading photos only from supported mobile devices, not from computers. Some third-party services get around these restrictions, but using them can get your Instagram account banned. This restriction could change in the future, but right now the app won't run on Chromebooks.

Another app that wouldn't install was VSCO. And Snapchat doesn't really work at this point, either. I could install it, use features like messaging (text), and browse Discover, but an error message popped up whenever I tried to access the camera.

Snapchat (sort of) running on a Chromebook

Google's Snapseed photo editor, however, did install. Powerful editing apps like Snapseed will give the Chromebook much-needed productivity tools. It's no Photoshop, but Snapseed gets the job done for a quick crop, color adjustment or other tweak.

Chrome OS comes with a couple of Google apps already pre-installed. But some, like Google Maps, are just shortcuts to their web versions. Here's a look at Google Maps on the web, compared to the Android app running on a Chromebook:

I wouldn't recommend that most users install the Developer channel and run Android apps on their primary Chromebook — it's just not ready yet. But bugs and compatibility issues aside, I look forward to Android invading the Chromebook. It's going to make it an even more attractive computer. 

So if you're considering a Chromebook in the near future, this might be a big deal. Just make sure the Chromebook you buy will support Android apps. You can find a list of compatible Chromebooks here.