According to the latest report, it seems like ChromeOS users will soon get a centralized location to download the best apps and games for their Chromebooks. ChromeOS lets users run PWAs (Progressive Web Apps), Linux apps, and even Android apps without breaking a sweat.
However, you need to go through different sources to download these various kinds of apps on your Chromebooks. Thankfully, that is changing soon. The latest report by Chrome Unboxed shows a new ‘App Mall’ in ChromeOS that will make exploring different kinds of apps easier.
The App Mall is available for preview and is also available for users who are not using a Chromebook. In order to use App Mall, you need to enable the flag: “chrome://flags/#cros-mall” within the Canary channel of ChromeOS 126. Once the flag is enabled, it will add the App Mall icon to the shelf and the app launcher.
As per the video, the App Mall’s layout seems pretty similar to the existing Explore app. The App Mall gets dedicated sections for Search, Home, Apps, and Games. On selecting an app, it will show you the description of the app, screenshots, and the ability to download the app from different sources. In the preview version of the App Mall, only Android and web apps are available, and the Linux apps aren’t.
The installation of the PWAs doesn’t force you to go to the Chrome browser and click through the steps, as you would normally do, to get them. The installation is handled by the ChromeOS App Mall itself.
Many apps are available solely via the Play Store. In case the app has different sources available, it will give you a drop-down menu from which you can select web/PWA, and Android. Since Linux apps aren’t available, you will not see the Linux option in the drop-down.
These are early days for the App Mall feature, and it is expected to get feature-rich in the coming days. The App Mall is tagged as an ‘experiment’, suggesting that more improvements are on the cards for the feature.