Google is working on a “Mall” app for Chrome OS. Mall is a new service that allows users to discover and install more web apps.
Mall App
According to a new Chromium OS code commits I spotted this morning, Google will soon add an experimental Mall app to Chrome OS.
The Mall app itself will be a web app launching https://discover.apps.chrome/ packaged as a PWA. I am unable to access the website because of an HTTP-related error. If you get it working, let me know in the comments below.
We should be able to test this app in an upcoming Canary channel release of Chrome OS. Code comments indicate that Google wants to promote this app giving it a promimnent position on the taskbar.
What’s That Name?
I like the idea of an app to promote the use of web apps in Chrome OS. However, what’s with the “Mall” name, Google? I hope this is a temporary code name that you will change in the future.
If you remeber, Google created afeature called “Journeys” which was later renamed to “Groups”. The whole feature made better senses after renaming.
If you are regular Chromebook user wait for this new app to show up on your Chromebook. if you are a developer, I recommend start reading up on how this feature works and how you can get your app featured on the “App”.
How do you think this is going to be different from the Chrome Web Store? Let me know in the comments section below.
Source: Chromium Gerrit. First reported by 9to5Google.
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