Google Chrome Web Store

For me, the most important announcement on Day 1 of Google's annual I/O Developer Conference was the introduction of the Chrome Web Store, due to open later this year.


Web apps existed before now, but they were often hard to find, and we had to rely on news services like TechCrunch and Mashable to review these for us. A searchable store with a list of Google approved, high quality apps will be great for anyone that uses the internet.


There will be a greater incentive for developers to create new and exciting apps if there's a store they can market them through. There will also be a way to monetize apps, but paid apps may not prove too popular. However, people accept that they have to pay for apps in Apple's iStore - they may not mind paying for a web app that offers a unique functionality.


Users will be able to "install" applications by adding a shortcut to the new tab page. When you "install" an application, it can integrate with the browser by using advanced features that require permission: local storage, user's location, notifications.

"An installed web app could be separated visually from other tabs, could integrate better with the OS, and could be granted increased permissions. This special handling of web apps is exactly what we're working on in Google Chrome. Installing a web app in Google Chrome is easy and quick, with no restart required. At its simplest, installing a web app is like creating a super-bookmark to it. Once installed, a web app gets a big icon in Google Chrome's app launcher area, as well as some integration with the host OS," explains Google.

"When running, an installed web app has a special frame and other UI enhancements to make the web app easier to distinguish from other web content. This special treatment makes running apps easier to find and prevents accidentally opening multiple copies of them."


Google are due to launch their Chrome OS later this year, and the Web Store is clearly preparation for that introduction. Google will be able to direct new users to the Web Store to select photo editors, music players, games, etc, as well as Google's own apps (Gmail, Calendar, Docs, etc), all re-written to take advantage of the power of Chrome.


What's great is that we won't have to wait for Chrome OS to experience all this Google goodness - any device that can run the Chrome browser will be able to run these apps.


Thanks for reading.