As seen with 12L, Google is making a big effort to improve the experience of using Android and its applications on large screens. In its developer recap, Google today shared that Android app usage on Chrome OS has increased by 50% year over year.
This particular Chromebook YoY metric, according to Google internal data from 2020-2021, counts “number of users engaging with Android apps.” It comes as Chrome OS grew 92% in May from a year ago, which, at “five times the rate of the PC market,” makes it the fastest growing operating system. Overall, Google says “people crave their favorite smartphone experiences on big screen devices.”
Google previously shared in October 2019 that the time spent in Android apps on Chrome OS had increased 4 times in a year. Over the past two years, Android apps and the Play Store have mushroomed on Chromebooks again, as more dedicated tablets arrive.
The rest of today’s blog post recaps what Google has done to make Android better on Chrome OS, including:
- Android 11 deployment: “Regularly updating all Chromebooks to support Android 11”
- Improved window management for Android applications: On Chrome 93+ on Android 11, “apps designed for mobile” are locked in a window the size of a phone or tablet, while there is a “Resizable” pill in the top bar .
- Share nearby in Android apps: Chrome 96+ on Android 9 and 11
- Low latency pen library: “The API minimizes latency by rendering pen strokes directly through the hardware composer and predicting where the next part of the stroke will be drawn. “
As for the sequel, Google says it will provide developers with “more tips and easy-to-use tools” in 2022.
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