The future of Android on ChromeOS

Google I/O is an annual developer conference organized and hosted by Google. I/O is an important event during which Google announces features and products that are in development. Some of these products and features will make their way into the classroom.

Last year during Google I/O we learned that Android Apps would soon be available on Chromebooks. Over the past year we have seen access to Google Play on Chromebooks slowly roll out to select Chromebooks as an option beta experience.

Using Android apps on ChromeOS has been less than awesome. It has been pretty bad. You can read my previous posts on the reality of using Android on Chromebooks.

During Google I/O 2017 Google offered a session for developers called "Android Apps for Chromebooks and Large Screen Devices." Not surprisingly, Google has identified a few big issues that developers need to fix.

You can watch the entire session here, or read my summary below.

Large Screen Optimization

Using an app designed for a small, portrait phone, on a large, landscape screen is not enjoyable. This is the primary experience when using Android on ChromeOS right now. Google received a LOT of feedback from early users indicating that this was a major barrier preventing them from using and enjoying Android apps on ChromeOS.

Considering screen size and orientation is also important for convertible Chromebooks which can be put into tablet mode in either portrait or landscape format. The more developers take these use cases into consideration, the more their apps will be used.

Android Apps for Chromebooks and Large Screen Devices (Google I/O '17) - Via YouTube

Google is recommending that developers optimize their applications for large, landscape screens and take advantage of the larger screen by developing new layouts to display content.

Keyboard Integration

Android Apps aren't designed to take advantage of the keyboard (why would they?). But on a Chromebook you can. Google is recommending that developers build keyboard shortcuts into their apps, just like desktop applications. They demonstrated this feature Lightroom by Adobe.
While keyboard integration might not seem like a big deal, it really is once you realize how often you use ctrl + f (find), ctrl + c (copy), ctrl + a (select all), or use the arrow keys to navigate through selection screens.

Android Apps for Chromebooks and Large Screen Devices (Google I/O '17) - Via YouTube

Stylus Support / Integration

More and more Chromebooks are shipping with an included stylus. The stylus is useless if developers don't take advantage of it as an input device. This means optimizing apps for pressure sensitivity and recognizing a palm on the screen to avoid false input. Google demonstrated the app Squid which is already doing this.

Android Apps for Chromebooks and Large Screen Devices (Google I/O '17) - Via YouTube

What this means for teachers and students

Do you need to care about what is happening at Google I/O or in these developer sessions? Kind of. What Google is telling developers today will make its way into the apps and products that you use tomorrow. 

Today, the experience of using Android apps on a Chromebook isn't very good. But over the next 12 months, as developers optimize their applications for ChromeOS, you can expect the user experience to greatly improve. To the point that you might actually want to use Android apps on your Chromebook!

I might actually use Android Apps on my Chromebook

I have been following the integration of Android and ChromeOS since it was merely a rumor (check out these posts). Overall, I have been underwhelmed by the addition of Android apps on my Chromebook.

Access to Android on my Chromebook has had no impact on my daily routines... until recently.

On a whim, I installed the Google Classroom Android App. I rarely use it. But then I noticed that I was getting very detailed notifications from the courses I am facilitating, which was quite helpful. I get notifications of comments, late assignments, and new posts in the notification window of my Chromebook. The web-based version of Classroom does not offer these detailed notifications.

Google Classroom notifications on ChromeOS

Next, I installed the Android versions of Basecamp and Slack, both offer superior notifications compared with their web-based versions.

Mobile devices have much better notification settings and capabilities than computers. Adding the Android app for tools that I use give me more control over when and how I am notified. This is the first time I have actually benefited from running Android apps on my Chromebook. Perhaps there is some benefits to the merging of Android and ChromeOS. What do you think?

What's Up with Android on Chrome?

The announcement of Android Apps coming to Chromebooks was one of the biggest announcements from Google in 2016. The original announcement happened back in May and the Google Play store is rolling out to more and more Chrome devices.

I'm a big believer in ChromeOS (I wrote a book about it!), so I was interested in this major update to an already great platform. 

I have two Chromebooks that have had access to the Play store for quite a while (Asus Flip and Pixel). I have installed lots of Android apps onto both devices. 

Here's the interesting thing - I don't use them. 

So far, the ability to use Android on Chrome has absolutely zero impact on my daily use of my Chromebook. In fact, I have forced myself to use some Android apps (Pandora, Keep, Pixlr, Photoshop, Instagram) and it hasn't been a very enjoyable (or helpful) experience. 

The apps are designed for mobile phones and don't scale to fit my screen and the interface is designed for touch which means it takes more touches to perform an action. 

Pixlr, my primary photo editing app, is a good example. The left is the Android version of Pixlr. The right is the web-app. 

So far, I have been greatly underwhelmed by the use Android apps on my Chromebook. The only individuals who seem to be genuinely excited about Android on Chrome are those who want to access Android games. 

As an educator, I always ask "how would a classroom teacher use this tool?" So far, I'm not really sure. To me, it seems that adding Android to Chrome just complicates what was a beautifully simply platform. 

Android on Chrome is still very new, so I will reserve my final judgement. Perhaps app developers just need to make ChromeOS optimized versions of their apps. 

Help me out - have you found Android on Chrome to be helpful? What specific apps are you using that make your ChromeOS experience even better? 

Android on Chrome - 2 Observations

I have had an opportunity to explore the use of Android Apps on my Chromebooks for the past few weeks. You can read through my comprehensive overview here.

I have two new observations to share.

1. Distinguishing Apps

One of my initial concerns when I began adding Android apps to my Chromebooks was issue of differentiating between Android and Chrome Apps - they all look the same! This is an issue if you install the Chrome AND Android versions of a took (like Pixlr for example).

A recent update to ChromeOS 53 (developer) has addressed this issue by adding a small Chrome icon badge to Chrome Apps. It's interesting to note that the badge only appears on Website apps, not native Chrome Apps like Versal or Vysor.

The Pixlr Android app (left) and the Pixlr Chrome App (right)

On one hand, this is a helpful change, however as I have way more Chrome Apps than Android Apps, I would have preferred to see an Android badge added rather than a Chrome badge.

2. Chrome Sync

One of the best things about ChromeOS is the ability to sign into any Chromebook and have all of your settings and content instantly accessible. This is possible because there is very little content that is actually locally stored on a Chromebook. With Android Apps, that is not the case - each one is locally downloaded to the device you are using. 

I was very curious about how Android app installations were going to be handled on Chromebooks. This is extremely important for schools who have a shared device program. The last thing we want is for the quick boot-time of Chromebooks to be hindered by downloading and installing 2gb+ worth of Android apps on each device. 

I have access to both the Asus Flip and the Chromebook Pixel. Android came to the Asus Flip first, and then the Pixel. I had installed a handful of Android apps on the Asus device and was curious to see what would happen when I switched my Pixel to developer mode to test Android Apps on that machine. What I discovered is that Android Apps do NOT sync. I had to manually install the Android Apps onto my Pixel. 

My guess is that this is not the way things are going to work in the future and is just a function of this feature being in very early stages of development. It would make sense to me to add a new option to the Chrome Sync interface to allow the user (or administrator) to enable / disable Android App sync.

Adding Android Apps as an option to the Chrome Sync page would provide individual users the ability to decide if they want Android Apps to sync across all of their devices. 

Those are my two new observations about Android on Chrome at the moment. Have you discovered anything interesting? I'd love to hear your thoughts and discoveries. 

Android Apps on Chromebooks

One of the most significant announcements coming out of the Google I / O developers conference this past May was the launch of Android Apps for Chrome. While this announcement didn't make the headlines of the conference, it has significant implications for educators and the classroom.

Early Access to Android for Chrome

An early release of the Google Play Store for Chrome was expected to come to three devices in June: the Asus Flip, Acer R11, and Chromebook Pixel. As of this post, only the Asus flip has received access.

The Google Play Store for Chrome can currently only be accessed by switching to v. 53 of Chrome which is currently in developer preview. The developer release channel is used to test out new features however it is fairly unstable and not for the faint of heart.

Android for Chrome was expected to progress through the Chrome release channels as follows:

• Developer - June 2016
• Beta - July 2016
• Stable - August 2016

This progression seems to be delayed, however, as not all of the selected devices have been updated to v. 53. At this point, it is unknown if Android for Chrome will be released prior to the start of the 2016-17 school year. It seems unlikely.

Android on Chrome - First Look

I have had an opportunity to test out some Android Apps on my Asus Flip Chromebook. The experience is interesting as it is a bit weird to be accessing The Google Play Store on laptop. I am super excited about having access to new tools that were previously unavailable on Chromebooks (e.g. Adobe Creative Suite, Skype, and Minecraft).

Android Apps do not load in a new tab like Chrome Apps do. Instead, they open in a floating window roughly the size and dimensions of a mobile phone. While this floating window can be expanded, the visuals do not always support full screen mode. Android Apps can't be docked into the Chrome browser, pinned, etc.

One interesting thing to note is that at this time, Google Play does not support account switching. I log into my Chromebooks using a Gmail account, but typically work within my Google Apps for Education account. The Google Play Store recognizes my Gmail account and will not allow me to switch to a secondary account; something that I can do on my phone or if I visit the Play store via the Chrome browser.

Here are a few screenshots:

Not all Chromebooks will support Android Apps. Generally, devices purchased within the last 2 years will be compatible. A list of supported devices is available here. 

The best thing about Android for Chrome is that App developers don’t have to do anything to make their app compatible with Chromebooks. Interoperability is automatic. This is a vast improvement over past attempts by Google to integrate Android and Chrome as they all required modifications for apps to run on a Chromebook.

Why should educators care about Android on Chrome?

Why is this a big deal for teachers, students, and administrators? Five reasons: 

1. More Quality Apps Available - there are over 2 million Android apps.
2. Increased Touch-screen capabilities - touch-screen is the future of all devices however many web apps are not [currently] touch optimized. Touch optimized apps are easier for younger students to use and are great for math and science classrooms.
3. Increased developer focus - If it is easy to make your Android app run on the 10 million Chromebooks in schools around the world, developers will create NEW tools for the classroom. There are more Android developers than web app developers.
4. Access to previously unavailable tools - There are many tools that are NOT currently web-optimized and can't be run on a Chromebook. Adobe Creative suite, Skype, and Minecraft are three popular examples. These titles DO have Android apps.
5. Increased offline capabilities - While Chromebooks are designed to run on the web, there are still many students who do NOT have web access at home. Android apps are built with offline capacity, making them helpful tools when not connected to the web. 

Unanswered Questions

While the availability of Android on Chrome opens up lots of exciting possibilities, there are quite a few unanswered questions. 

1. Administrative Controls - There are lots of Android apps that are not classroom appropriate. How will district administrators manage Android apps on Chrome? We don't know. Will it similar to Chrome App management? Similar to the old Google Play for Education?
2. Paid Apps - There are also far more paid apps for Android than there are for Chrome OS. Overall, I think that paid apps are fine. I would rather pay for a quality app than deal with lousy, free apps. However, there needs to be a very simple method for schools to purchase and deploy paid content. Google Play for Education was outstanding (schools could pay via PO and distribute apps via Google Groups) and I hope the same features are made available.
3. App compatibility - Not all apps are compatible with Chromebooks. There are a few that will not work, but I don't know why. We need a greater understanding of the specs required to run Android apps.
4. App Overload / Overlap - Instructional coaches and technologists will need to begin thinking about "app overload syndrome". There are so many different ways to get apps now - Chrome Webstore, Google Play, Drive Apps, Drive Add-ons, regular websites etc. How does a teacher decide if she should visit mindmeister.com, install Mindmeister for Chrome, Android or the Docs Add-on? There is a really possibility of increased confusion and frustration with the many different channels that are available for classroom content. 

Have you had an opportunity to play with Android on Chrome? What are you initial thoughts? 

Don't have access yet? What questions would you like answered?

Additional Information and Resources: 

• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks [Chrome Blog]
• Bring your Android Apps to Chromebooks [Android Developer Blog]
• Supported Devices
• How to enable developer mode

Is Google Play for Education Dead?

Some pretty important news was leaked this week related to Google Play for Education (GP4E), Google's K-12 Android initiative.

Less than 3 years after its launch, Google is pulling the plug and Google Play for Education, as reported by CRN.

"[Google] confirmed to CRN on Friday it will cease selling Play for Education licenses to partner tablet vendors March 14. Google said it will continue supporting all existing accounts, allowing current customers to access the education-focused app store for as long as their devices are in service."

This is a startling change, especially for schools that have only recently adopted Android tablets. As recently as this school year Google has heavily promoted Android adoption in schools through a special package offered by hardware re-sellers.

Here are three reason's this announcement isn't a surprise, and shouldn't cause panic:

1. Google has already hinted about the "merging" of ChromeOS and Android.
Everyone was freaking out about ChromeOS being merged into Android. Well, the opposite (kind of) happened. GP4E is being phased out, and will [likely] somehow be rolled into ChromeOS.

2. Google's mobile device management controls have gotten better. 
Google has slowly added administrative controls for Android devices through the admin console. I will be the first to admit that these are NOT a full replacement for GP4E (no app pushing), but they are a start.

3. Chromebooks are better anyway
Google Play for Education never really captured the hearts or minds of school leaders or teachers. At least not compared with Chromebooks. Why? Chromebooks are cheaper, easier to manage, and have more features than Android Tablets.

The rapid development of touch-screen Chromebooks (nearly all new models have offer touch as an option) has further reduced the need for tablets, even for younger students. I have worked with several districts who purchased touch-screen Chromebooks in place of Android tablets.

Sadly, this point is little comfort to schools that have already invested in the Android ecosystem. I'm sorry. = (

Google has a PR crisis on their hands given the nature of this major [leaked] announcement. I certainly hope that they provide a LOT more clarity and explanation regarding this decision and the future of all of their platforms.

This announcement, while frustrating, is NOT the end; it is likely just the beginning. We will likely learn more during Google I/O, May 18-20.