Android apps in the upcoming Chrome OS 64 update will be able to run in the background
Thanks to some reader input, we've been made aware that a missing feature we discussed not long ago that is now coming soon to a Chromebook near you. — That feature? Android Parallel Tasks.
Context & Ripple Effects
Android-on-Chrome OS has been assembling piece by piece since Google confirmed the Play Store was coming to Chrome OS in mid-2016, following early source-code hints, then committing that every Chromebook debuting from 2017 onward would run Android apps. But through all of it, Android apps on a Chromebook stopped when their window closed — a fundamental behavioral gap versus phones.
Chrome OS 64 closing that gap with Android Parallel Tasks means the ported runtime finally behaves like Android proper, not a windowed demo of it. It is the difference between Chromebooks hosting Android apps and actually running them as a primary workload.
First-order effects
- Apps whose value depends on staying alive — messaging, music, downloads, sync — now keep working on a Chromebook after their window is dismissed, removing the biggest functional complaint about the Play Store experience.
- Developers no longer need to treat Chrome OS as a degraded Android target: the same APK ships with phone-grade lifecycle behavior across every device covered by the 2017-and-beyond Chromebook commitment.
Second-order effects
- Chromebooks become materially more credible replacements for entry Windows laptops, since always-on apps like messengers and streaming services were precisely where the platform fell short against native software.
- Google gains leverage over PC makers to position Chromebooks as first-class Android devices, tightening the hardware ecosystem around its own OS pairing rather than pushing buyers toward Windows machines.
Third-order effects
- If each release keeps erasing runtime differences, Chrome OS trends toward being an Android distribution with a desktop shell on top — a trajectory visible later in releases like Chrome OS 76's Android-style media controls and virtual desktops.
- The long-run question this raises for the industry is whether Google maintains two consumer operating systems at all, or lets Chrome OS and Android converge into one codebase with different form factors.
The trend: Chrome OS is steadily absorbing Android's full runtime — background tasks now, interface conventions next — turning two separate Google platforms into one converging stack.