How to Run Android Apps Inside Chrome

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"> <img border="0" height="228" src="http://s7.postimg.org/ammhv6vmj/How_to_run_android_apps_inside_chrome.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Google has released a new developer tool called <b><span style="color: blue;">App Runtime for Chrome (ARC) Welder</span></b> that allows Android apps to run on Chrome for Linux, Windows, and OS X systems.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div> Google Chrome's <b><span style="color: blue;">ARC Welder</span></b> app can now run any of your favorite Android apps like <span style="color: lime;"><b>WhatsApp</b></span>, <b><span style="color: red;">Candy Crush</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Angry Birds</span></b>, all from your Chrome web browser.</div> <div> ARC welder tool operates via some special runtime implemented using <b><span style="color: blue;">Native Client (NaCl)</span></b> in-browser binary execution tech.<br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <b><a href="http://www.rexhacker.net/2014/05/samsung-announces-15-tb-wireless-hard.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Samsung Announces 1.5 TB Wireless Hard Drive</span></a></b></div> </div> <div> <b><span style="color: blue;">ARC:</span></b> The App Runtime for Chrome (ARC) is the piece of software that allows Android apps to run in Chrome. In the same way that ART (and the older Dalvik) currently run Android apps in Android itself. By making a modified version of the Android runtime for Chrome, Google can allow developers to add support for Chrome without rebuilding their apps from the ground up.<br /> <br /></div> <div> <b><span style="color: blue;">ARChon Custom Runtime: </span></b>ARC is officially only designed for Chrome OS at the moment. To get around this, developer vladikoff created the <b><span style="color: blue;">ARChon Custom Runtime</span></b>, which not only allows Windows, OS X, and Linux to run Android apps, but also removes the limit on how many can be run.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <b><span style="color: blue;">Unpacked Extension:</span></b> Extensions normally come from the Chrome Web Store or prepackaged in a <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">.CRX</span></b> file. For the purposes of Android apps, we're going to use unpacked extensions. These are folders that contain all the files for an extension (or, in this case, <span style="color: orange;"><b>Android APK</b></span>). They function the same as extensions, but are not wrapped up in a single file.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">LEARN HOW TO RUN ANDROID APPS IN CHROME</span></b></div> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> </div> <div> <b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Step 1:</span></b> <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Install the ARChon Runtime</span></b></div> <div> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <img alt="Run Android apps in chrome browser" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdwgD5Qs2ljXhvdniks8br-52OVzJ7p8MWNHtQQx4D245oH9baZoJuYpE13GT9div2EJsLZ8Jt8vPp7bRdGVjBRODpYejzNU_cchq_C-RwOfV3EQ6UNBvuWBqfvLZKQ5GG0uZ6i065tU/s1600/1_wm.jpg" title="How to Run Android Apps Inside Chrome" /></div> <div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Chrome OS uses a specialized runtime that allows <b><span style="color: orange;">Android apps</span></b> to run natively inside it. This means that it's not an <b><span style="color: blue;">emulator</span></b> or <b><span style="color: blue;">virtualization stack</span></b>, but a proper runtime. In layman's terms, Chrome OS is using the same type of engine that Android uses to run software directly. So instead of a Genymotion-like situation where you have a whole Android phone running on your computer, here you can launch <b><span style="color: orange;">Android apps</span></b> from the <b><span style="color: red;">Chrome launcher</span></b>.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> To begin, we'll need to download the <b><span style="color: blue;">ARChon Custom Runtime</span></b>. This is necessary to run Android apps in Windows, OS X, and Linux. While you can technically run Android apps in Chrome OS, you're currently limited to one of four apps. The methods in the rest of this article will run alternative apps by spoofing the signed key on those apps, but if you want to run any app you'd like, download ARChon. Here's how:</div> </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">1.</span></b> Download the ARChon runtime <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://bitbucket.org/vladikoff/archon/get/v1.0.zip" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a></span></b>.</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">2.</span></b> <b><span style="color: blue;">Unzip</span></b> the archive.</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">3.</span></b> Open your <b><span style="color: blue;">extensions page</span></b> in Chrome by going to <b><span style="color: red;">Menu</span></b> => <b><span style="color: red;">More Tools</span></b> => <b><span style="color: red;">Extensions</span></b></div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">4.</span></b> Enable <b><span style="color: blue;">Developer mode</span></b> in the top right corner, if it is not already enabled.</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">5.</span></b> Select "<b><span style="color: blue;">Load unpacked extension</span></b>."</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">6.</span></b> Choose the folder containing the <b><span style="color: blue;">ARChon runtime</span></b> you unzipped earlier.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> The <b><span style="color: blue;">ARChon runtime</span></b> will now be running as an extension in Chrome. You may see a couple warnings like the following on the extensions page. However, these are normal and shouldn't affect your ability to run Android apps.<br /> <br /></div> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <img alt="Run Android apps in chrome browser" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa_tI6sYUJKSyqhyIQdsJV61iiI2SXRqC_a3wU-tJqRjNV8a30Ul9z0oogtH98RfagMoKPOBEvTv4J6xEvU4VJXiRl5RqOeljTyAd-MEZP16BECgOVfskcT4yYLctQOzzX4DyhNJ4xPM/s1600/2_wm.jpg" title="How to Run Android Apps Inside Chrome" /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Next, you'll need some <b><span style="color: orange;">Android apps</span></b> to run. This is a little complicated, since Android APKs are not properly packaged for Chrome. However, with a little elbow grease (or some help from your friendly neighborhood internet), you can get some of them to launch. Whether they function properly is an entirely different matter.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Step 2:</span></b> <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Install Existing Android Apps</span></b></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <img alt="Run Android apps in chrome browser" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv-6i95tqHaSLU4phzAxb-o1_hf2qZwELDZEB7qYZw5XmpaT7RcW6gZrTFupqAOs5I8leNomR7hA2fsjRAp4wJ2YbYluYSEhzwJa2XBSD50EyKgQJGbUqnGPYm-8Rm7braNt9UoVROJU/s1600/3_wm.jpg" title="How to Run Android Apps Inside Chrome" /></div> <div> <div> <br /></div> <div> The quickest, most dead-simple way to get some working Android apps is to find some online. Forums like this <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/chromeapks/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">subreddit</a></span></b> are already working on getting some functional. However, this is a far cry from the 1.3 million apps on the <b><span style="color: #351c75;">Play Store</span></b>. While most of those will probably remain out of your reach due to incompatibility issues, we'll also look at how to (try to) create your own.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <b><span style="color: blue;">Disclaimer:</span></b> Distribution of modified apps is, generally speaking, some degree of <b><span style="color: red;">copyright violation</span></b>. In practice, there's little distinction between downloading a pre-modified app, and downloading the regular version and modifying it yourself. For this reason, it's unlikely any developer of a free app will be too concerned if you download a <b><span style="color: blue;">pre-modified</span></b> app to play around with. However, downloading a modified paid app is piracy. Please support developers and don't download modified versions of paid apps without paying for them. And, while it should go without saying, don't write a bad review or criticize the developer if an app is broken in Chrome. You're on your own here.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Some helpful internet users have created a <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iIbxaftAu_ho5rv9fUlXSLTzwU6MbKOldsWXyrYiyo8/htmlview?usp=sharing&sle=true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">growing list of apps</a></span></b> that work in Chrome. You can find download links in that document, or find more in <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/chromeapks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">communities</a></span></b> currently working on Chrome APKs. Once you have a <b><span style="color: blue;">.zip</span></b> file containing one of these modified <b><span style="color: blue;">APKs,</span></b> here's how to install it:</div> </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">1.</span></b> <b><span style="color: blue;">Unzip</span></b> the file and place the folder (likely named something like "<b><span style="color: blue;">com.twitter.android</span></b>")<br /> in a place you can easily find.</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">2.</span></b> Open the <b><span style="color: blue;">Extensions page</span></b> in Chrome.</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">3.</span></b> Click "<b><span style="color: blue;">Load unpacked extensions</span></b>"</div> <div> <b><span style="color: #990000;">4.</span></b> Select the folder with the modified <b><span style="color: blue;">APK</span></b> you downloaded.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> The app will now appear in your list of <b><span style="color: blue;">Chrome extensions</span></b>. If you're a particular fan of Chrome apps, you might also notice that a shortcut has been added to the Chrome app launcher. Depending on how it was packaged, it may have a benign Android icon and the package name instead of a proper app name.</div> </div> </div>

How to Run Android Apps Inside Chrome

Google has released a new developer tool called App Runtime for Chrome (ARC) Welder that allows Android apps to run on Chrome for Linux, Windows, and OS X systems. Google Chrome's ARC Welder app can now run any of your favorite Android apps like WhatsApp, Candy Crush, Angry Birds, all from your Chr…

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