Run Android Apps In Chrome on Any Operating System

Recently, Google made the first batch of Android apps available for Chrome. Now its time to enjoy and show off among your tech savvy friends. Isn't it all we wanted: to access apps without phones. Now you don't have to take your eyes off your PC and makes you look hard working virtually to other in your office bay. Here is the gimmick: how to install (nearly) any Android app on any operating system.

To get it done you will be needing a few things first at hand. Let's simplify it for those who are a bit new. No Offense.

ARC: The App Runtime for Chrome (or ARC) is the piece of software that allows Android apps to run in Chrome. 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.

ARChon Custom Runtime: ARC is officially only designed for Chrome OS at the moment. To get around this, developer vladikoff created the ARChon Custom Runtime, which not only allows Windows, OS X, and Linux to run Android apps, but also removes the limit on how many can be run.

Google Play Services: No description required as far I think. If you own an android smart phone, you know what this little guy does for you. 

Unpacked Extension: 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, Android APK). They function the same as extensions, but are not wrapped up in a single file.

Step One: Install the ARChon Runtime

1. Download the ARChon runtime here.
2. Unzip the archive.
3. Open your extensions page in Chrome by going to Menu > More Tools > Extensions
4. Enable Developer mode in the top right corner, if it is not already enabled.
5. Select "Load unpacked extension."
6. Choose the folder containing the ARChon runtime you unzipped earlier.

The ARChon runtime 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.

Next, you'll need some Android apps to run. This is a little complicated, since Android APKs are not properly packaged for Chrome. However, with a little modification, you can get some of them to launch. Whether they function properly is an entirely different matter.

Step 2: Install Existing Android Apps

The quickest, most dead-simple way to get some working Android apps is to find some online. Forums like
this subreddit are already working on getting some functional. You may also refer a growing list of apps that work in Chrome. You can find download links in that document, or find more in communities currently working on Chrome APKs. Once you have a .zip file containing one of these modified APKs, here's how to install it:

1. Unzip the file and place the folder (likely named something like "com.twitter.android") in a place you can easily find.
2. Open the Extensions page in Chrome.
3. Click "Load unpacked extensions."
4. Select the folder with the modified APK you downloaded.

The app will now appear in your list of Chrome extensions. If you're a particular fan of Chrome apps, you might also notice that a shortcut has been added to the Chrome app launcher.

Step 3: Repackage Your Own Android Apps for Chrome

There are a few ways to make and tweak APKs so that they can run on Chrome. There may be even easier ways that have been developed to convert them.we'll go over how to install the chromeos-apk tool, as well as how to convert them manually, should you need to do any extra tweaking.

Windows:

1. Download the node.js .msi file (not the .exe) from here.
2. Install node.js.
3. In a command prompt, run the following command: npm install chromeos-apk -g

That's it. You now have the chromeos-apk tool installed on your machine and can call it from any folder in the command line. You can skip ahead to the section below on how to use it.

OS X/Linux:

The chromeos-apk tool was originally developed for Linux and OS X devices. Here's how to install it there:

1. In a terminal, run the following command: sudo apt-get install npm
2. (Ubuntu only): Run the following command: sudo apt-get install lib32stdc++6
3. Download node.js.
4. Unzip the tar.gz file you downloaded from the above link.
5. Per the README file, open a terminal to the unzipped folder containing node.js. And run the following commands in order:
   1. ./configure
   2. make
   3. make install
   4. Run the command: sudo npm install chromeos-apk -g
6. To make sure you're updated to the latest version (now or in the future), run: sudo npm install -g chromeos-apk@latest

Now How to Use the Chromeos-apk Tool:

You now have the chromeos-apk tool installed on your machine. To use it, first you'll need to acquire an APK. If you're trying to convert a free app, you can use
this tool to pull an APK directly from the Play Store. You can also use this tool to get an APK from an app installed on your phone. Many file managers and backup utilities like ES File Explorer and Titanium Backup can also pull APKs on your device.

Once you have your APK, it's super simple to create a Chrome-friendly version. Open a command prompt or terminal in the folder where you have the APK stored, then do the following:

1. Run the following command: chromeos-apk [NAME OF APK]
   1. Example: chromeos-apk com.evernote.apk
2. If prompted, enter the package name of the app. This can usually be found in the URL of the Play Store listing. For example, in this URL, the portion after "?id=" is the package name. In this case, "com.evernote".

You now have a modified APK, ready for Chrome! You can install it using the same instructions in Step 2 earlier in this post. Namely, open your extensions page, click "Load unpacked extension," and choose the folder you just created.

Alternative: Convert APKs Manually

If you don't want to use the command line utility to modify APKs for Chrome usage, you can repackage them yourself. You'll still need to download chromeos-apk from Github here. You'll also need an APK for the app in question, so use the methods described in the section above to get them. Then, follow these steps:

1. There is a folder named "_template" inside the chromeos-apk tool you downloaded. Make a copy of this somewhere else.
2. Copy the APK into "_template > Vendor > chromium > crx". There should be a README file in the correct folder that says "APK goes here." in the correct folder.
3. Rename the "_template" folder to the package name. The package name can usually be found in the Play Store listing URL after "?id=".
4. Modify the "manifest.json" file in the main folder of the package. This is considerably easier to do with an app like this.
   1. Add the app's package name (like "com.pandora.android") to the "package name" field.
   2. Add the app's regular name (like "Pandora") to the "name" field.
   3. Delete the entry named "key", which will have a very long, seemingly random string for a value.
   4. Save the modified JSON file as "manifest.json" and replace the existing version with the new, edited one.
5. Download the app icon from Play Store.
1. On a Play Store listing page like this one, right-click the icon image.
2. In the URL bar, change "w300-rw" to "w128". Hit enter.
3. Right-click the new image and save it as "icon.png" in the main folder of the modified template folder.

Congrats!! You just manually modified your own version of APK to run in Chrome. 

Enjoy and don't forget to share and like.