Chrome Web Apps Coming Along Quite Well. Some Already Work
One of the big announcements at this year's Google I/O was that a new Chrome Web Store was being built. Think of it as Apple's App Store or the Android Market but for web apps. In it, you'll be able to purchase …
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already outlined the planned Chrome Web Store in May 2010; working examples move the effort beyond a marketplace concept toward a developer-facing software channel. The project applies an app-store purchase model to browser-based software, placing Chrome alongside Apple’s established app-distribution framing.
First-order effects
- Web developers have an early indication that applications built for Chrome can be prepared for the forthcoming Chrome Web Store, rather than waiting for the store itself to define the entire experience.
Second-order effects
- Google’s ability to make the store useful will depend on attracting enough working web applications to give Chrome users a reason to treat the browser as a software destination.
- Apple faces a new distribution model aimed at the same developer expectation—packaging and selling applications—even though Google’s channel is centered on web apps.
Third-order effects
- If Chrome’s store gains a credible catalog, browser vendors will compete not only on rendering and speed but also on the developer distribution channels attached to their browsers.
The trend: Application distribution is extending from device-specific stores toward browser-based marketplaces that package web software as a purchasable product.