Google likely to release Chrome app support for Android and iOS in 2014

A couple of months back, Google had disclosed its plans to bring Chrome apps for mobile operating systems, but its focus remains Windows desktop. However, we may see the Chrome app for mobile operating systems earlier than expected. According to The Next Web, Chrome apps could arrive on Android and iOS soon and the beta release is expected in January 2014.

This means, all that you could do on your desktop using Chrome apps will be possible on the mobile phone. Google’s team in Waterloo, Canada is reportedly working on developer tools to port these Chrome apps with the latest versions currently hosted at GitHub. The toolkit will reportedly help developers to build Android and iOS hybrid native apps with Chrome app polyfills, through Apache Cordova.

Chrome apps coming to mobile platforms soon?

However, it is not yet clear when the tools will be ready and it may  take long for developers to get started, says the report. However, one of the developer advocates, Joe Marini, has written that they “hope to have something in beta form in January”.

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Chrome packaged apps are written in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and launched outside the browser, which means they work offline by default and can access certain APIs not available to Web apps. Earlier this year, to celebrate Chrome’s fifth birthday in style, Google had announced the new breed of out-of-the-browser Chrome Apps. 

There is no official announcement from Google about Chrome apps for mobile platforms, but reportedly some sources close to Google have revealed that these tools aren’t ready for announcement. Developers can, however, try them out for now.