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Google rolling out Chrome OS 67 with support for Progressive Web Apps, splitscreen in tablet mode; Chrome on Mac and Windows will get PWA support in the future

Google readies Chrome OS for detachable screen laptops and web apps that run outside the browser.

ZDNet Liam Tung

Context & Ripple Effects

Google has been walking Progressive Web Apps up the stack since Chrome 57 put them in Android's app drawer in early 2017; Chrome OS 67 is the moment they land on the desktop side, running outside the browser window rather than inside a tab. The release also targets hardware: splitscreen in tablet mode is built for the detachable-screen laptops Google is readying Chrome OS for.

The cadence around this release shows it is not a one-off — Chrome OS 64 earlier in 2018 layered in Play-app and browser refinements, and by October the Chrome OS 70 tablet UI redesign doubled down on the same detachable form factor. A year later, Chrome 73 began testing Auto Picture-in-Picture for installed PWAs on desktops, confirming the installed-web-app direction stuck.

First-order effects

  • Chromebook users gain web apps that launch and behave like installed software, while detachable-laptop owners get real multitasking via tablet-mode splitscreen.
  • Developers who already shipped PWAs to Android after Chrome 57 can reach Chrome OS users with the same codebase instead of packaging separate desktop apps.

Second-order effects

  • Google's stated plan to bring PWA support to Chrome on Mac and Windows puts installed web apps directly against native-app distribution on Apple's and Microsoft's platforms, pressuring their store-centric models.

Third-order effects

  • If the pattern holds from Android through Chrome OS to Mac and Windows, the browser becomes a cross-platform app runtime in its own right, eroding the distinction between 'web' and 'installed' software and shifting leverage toward whoever controls the runtime.

The trend: Google is methodically turning Chrome from a browser into a cross-platform application runtime, carrying the Android PWA model onto the desktop one OS at a time.

Related: Progressive Web Apps · Chrome · With Chrome 57, Progressive Web Apps will appear in Android's app drawer · Chrome 73 starts rolling out with Mac Dark Mode and Auto Picture-in-Picture tests

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