Google will soon bring the Android Play Store to Chromebooks
Some Chromebook users are already being shown the new option.
Android apps in Chrome OS may already be a thing, but there really aren't that many available on the Chrome Web Store. That could soon change, however, as the search giant appears to be on the verge of launching the Play Store on Chrome OS, as evidenced in a new screenshot recently shared on Reddit.
User TheWiseYoda first spotted a new option in Chrome OS titled "Enable Android Apps to run on your Chromebook." It appeared in a developer build of the operating system (version 51) and allowed other Reddit users to follow a tutorial (shown above) on how to set things up before closing on them. On closer inspection, the Chromium code includes a couple of references to the feature, most notably:
<message name="IDS_ARC_OPT_IN_DIALOG_DESCRIPTION" desc="Description of the opt-in dialog for Android apps.">
Choose from over a million apps and games on Google Play to install and use on your <ph name="DEVICE_TYPE">$1<ex>Chromebook</ex></ph>.
</message>
The appearance of the setting doesn't come as much of a surprise given that Google has spent the past couple of years bringing Android and Chrome OS closer together. At the end of 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company would combine the two operating systems as early as this year. If today's news is anything to go by, Google may simply integrate the useful features from each OS instead.
With Google I/O less than a month away, it's highly likely that Google will hold off confirming its plans for Android and Chrome OS. We've contacted the company for comment and will update the article should we hear back.
