4 ms·

Here's hoping this is eventually gets made into a standalone library or program that can be run without Chrome. Don't get me wrong, Chrome definitely has some b

Here's hoping this is eventually gets made into a standalone library or program that can be run without Chrome. Don't get me wrong, Chrome definitely has some benefits over other browsers, but I don't want to have to have it to use this and I definitely don't want to have to run a browser to use apps.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
yincrash 12y ago
There are already standalone Android runtimes to run apps as is on your computer without Chrome. See BlueStacks[1] [1]http://www.bluestacks.com/ http://www.bluestacks.com/
- Zigurd 12y ago
  Bluestacks is an emulator running the Android OS under Windows, not an integration of the Android runtime with Windows. The latter is possible, but it would take quite a bit more work. Whereas ARC really is an Android runtime, separated from the Android OS, and ported to other OSs.
derefr 12y ago
And that library would be Chrome. Which is to say, whether or not you ship a web browser UX, you need 95%+ of Chrome to run NaCl/PPAPI apps, which this Android virtualization layer targets. Really, Chrome itself isn't so much a web browser any more. I swear, at some point they're going to let you generate seeming-OS-native-binaries from Chrome Apps which will then bootstrap themselves by silent-installing Chrome—but only the "app launcher" part, not the "web browser" part. At that point, Chrome will be a capital-P-Platform: exactly the same as Silverlight/Adobe Air/etc.
- snowwrestler 12y ago
  > At that point, Chrome will be a capital-P-Platform: exactly the same as Silverlight/Adobe Air/etc. Or Flash, or Java...and look how well things have worked out for all those "write once, run anywhere" client app platforms!
  - tree_of_item 12y ago
    Flash was very successful as a client app platform, and Chrome has clearly avoided Java's client-side failure mode already.
    - igravious 12y ago
      Which goes to show. In hindsight Adobe shoulda built their own browser or forked Firefox or bought Opera...
      - msh 12y ago
        No, they should have gotten flash to run really good on mobile, crappy or no flash on mobile was the downfall of flash.
        igravious 12y ago
        True. Hadn't thought of that. Or done both.
- icebraining 12y ago
  Chrome Apps outside the browser were demonstrated a couple of years ago¹; but I'm not sure if it's in their interest to be so silent installing Chrome. It's interesting that what you're describing is actually been done by Mozilla, when they separated XULRunner from Firefox. A few apps already use it², including Google's own Analytics Editor, but it needs to be way more polished to make it attractive to the general app developers. ¹ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=j8oFAr1YR-0#t=379s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=j8o... ² http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XULRunner#Uses http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XULRunner#Uses

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

yincrash 12y ago

There are already standalone Android runtimes to run apps as is on your computer without Chrome. See BlueStacks[1] [1]http://www.bluestacks.com/ http://www.bluestacks.com/

Zigurd 12y ago
Bluestacks is an emulator running the Android OS under Windows, not an integration of the Android runtime with Windows. The latter is possible, but it would take quite a bit more work. Whereas ARC really is an Android runtime, separated from the Android OS, and ported to other OSs.

derefr 12y ago

And that library would be Chrome. Which is to say, whether or not you ship a web browser UX, you need 95%+ of Chrome to run NaCl/PPAPI apps, which this Android virtualization layer targets. Really, Chrome itself isn't so much a web browser any more. I swear, at some point they're going to let you generate seeming-OS-native-binaries from Chrome Apps which will then bootstrap themselves by silent-installing Chrome—but only the "app launcher" part, not the "web browser" part. At that point, Chrome will be a capital-P-Platform: exactly the same as Silverlight/Adobe Air/etc.

snowwrestler 12y ago
> At that point, Chrome will be a capital-P-Platform: exactly the same as Silverlight/Adobe Air/etc. Or Flash, or Java...and look how well things have worked out for all those "write once, run anywhere" client app platforms!
- tree_of_item 12y ago
  Flash was very successful as a client app platform, and Chrome has clearly avoided Java's client-side failure mode already.
  - igravious 12y ago
    Which goes to show. In hindsight Adobe shoulda built their own browser or forked Firefox or bought Opera...
    - msh 12y ago
      No, they should have gotten flash to run really good on mobile, crappy or no flash on mobile was the downfall of flash.
      - igravious 12y ago
        True. Hadn't thought of that. Or done both.
icebraining 12y ago
Chrome Apps outside the browser were demonstrated a couple of years ago¹; but I'm not sure if it's in their interest to be so silent installing Chrome. It's interesting that what you're describing is actually been done by Mozilla, when they separated XULRunner from Firefox. A few apps already use it², including Google's own Analytics Editor, but it needs to be way more polished to make it attractive to the general app developers. ¹ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=j8oFAr1YR-0#t=379s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=j8o... ² http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XULRunner#Uses http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XULRunner#Uses