Google removing support for Chrome Apps in Mac browser by 2018

Google is continuing a migration away from Chrome apps, and has revealed a plan to cut packaged and hosted apps from its standalone Web browser in the next two years.

The company has declared that starting in late 2016, newly-published Chrome apps will only be available to users on Chrome OS. Existing Chrome apps will remain accessible on all platforms, and developers can continue to update them.

However, by the end of 2017, the Chrome Web Store will no longer show Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux. By early 2018, people on these platforms will no longer be able to load the apps at all.

All types of Chrome apps will remain supported and maintained on Chrome OS for the foreseeable future. Additional enhancements to the Chrome apps platform will apply only to Chrome OS devices.

Google claims that only one percent of Mac and Linux users actively utilize Chrome packaged apps. Developers are encouraged to migrate the apps to the Web, and invited to participate in a process to select APIs for migration.