Android Apps are Now Officially Available on Chrome OS 53

In May, Google revealed Android apps would soon begin working on Chromebooks. The addition of Android apps to a Chromebook transform it from a device with a sparse app offering, to one with access to virtually any app you can use on your Android device.

Announced at Google I/O 2016, Androids apps and the Play Store are now officially on Chromebooks. Chrome OS 53 is rolling out now to all devices in the developer channel, but the Play Store is only showing up on the ASUS Chromebook Flip. Early users are reporting bugs, but reactions are generally positive with performance improvements over Android apps installed via ARC Welder.

If you own an Chromebook Flip, you will need to enable developer mode before the Play Store will show up on your device. You can do so by opening Settings > tap on About Chrome OS at the top of the screen > More info > Change channel > dev channel.

You will receive a couple of warnings which remind you the dev channel isn't the most stable version of Chrome OS. In other words, you are (very) likely to experience random crashes and bugs when using a Chromebook on the dev channel. If you're alright with that, follow the prompts to download and install the update.

With the update installed, you will have the Play Store app icon in the app shelf at the bottom of your screen. Tap on it, follow the prompts, accept some terms and you're ready to start using Android apps on your Chromebook.

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.

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.)

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

For those without an Chromebook Flip, Google has said Android apps will come to more Chromebooks when it officially rolls out. You can view that complete list here.