Evernote And Vine Among First Android Apps To Be Released On Chromebooks

Google has revealed the first four Android applications to be made available for its cloud-based Chrome OS as the search giant seeks to increase the interoperability between the two platforms.

Language app Duolingo, children’s’ reading app Slightwords, Evernote and Twitter’s video service Vine can now be used on Chromebooks as part of the ‘App Runtime for Chrome’ beta project announced at Google I/O earlier this year.

Chrome Android apps

Google says it will work with more developers over the next few months to get the most popular Android apps working on Chrome OS and has invited users to submit suggestions. However the company does warn that it might not be possible in all cases.

The aim of the initiative is to offer a more seamless experience between mobile devices and laptops using Google’s operating systems in a similar fashion to Windows 8 and Windows Phone or Mac OS and iOS.

Chromebooks were first released in 2009 and have recovered from a sluggish start to gain some traction in the laptop market, with Samsung, HP and Acer among those backing the platform amid falling PC sales.

There have been moves by Google and its manufacturing partners to bring ChromeOS into the enterprise, while the operating system could also benefit from better graphics following the formation of a partnership between VMware, Nvidia and Google.

Google sought to take advantage of the end of support for Windows XP earlier this year by offering businesses still running the aging Microsoft operating system a $100 discount on every managed Chromebook they purchased.

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