Apps/Extensions Timeline

[Bill_Gibson]

Received the below e-mail:

Hello ChromeOS Developer,

We're sending this communication to inform you of important changes coming to ChromeOS. Starting July 2025, Chrome App support will be phased out in stages and reach end of life in October 2028.

We understand this change may require some planning and have provided additional information below to help you with the transition.

What you need to know

In 2016, we announced the end of support for Chrome Apps in favor of web apps. In 2021, we extended Chrome App support for ChromeOS Enterprise and Education customers until January 2025, and are now extending that support further as detailed below.

With most developers and users having migrated away from Chrome Apps (including Legacy (v1) packaged apps and Hosted apps), we can confirm the following updates about Chrome App discontinuation dates:

• July 2025: End of support for user-installed Chrome Apps on ChromeOS (scheduled for ChromeOS 138). Apps that are force-installed through the admin console will continue to be supported.
• July 2026: Last ChromeOS release (scheduled for ChromeOS 150) with support for Chrome Apps in Kiosk Mode.
  • Devices on the LTS channel Chrome Apps in Kiosk Mode will receive support until April 2027.
• February 2028: Last ChromeOS release (scheduled for ChromeOS 168) with support for Chrome Apps, marking the end of life for all Chrome Apps.
  • Devices on the LTS channel can continue to use Chrome Apps until October 2028.
  • No exceptions will be granted.

These timelines also apply to self-hosted Chrome Apps.

What you need to do

When migrating from Chrome Apps, you have two main options:

• Web apps are the best option for Chrome Apps that function independently with a distinct user interface.
• Chrome Extensions are more suitable if your Chrome App relies on functionalities that are specific to the Chrome browser, works independently from a web server, and/or works towards modifying the web.

Please refer to the Transition from Chrome Apps guide for additional details.

New Chrome Apps can’t be added to the Chrome Web Store, however, existing Chrome Apps can continue to be updated through October 2028, after which they will no longer be supported on ChromeOS, and will be removed from the Chrome Web Store.

We recommend reaching out to your customers to let them know about these changes.

Please review the attachment located at the bottom of this communication for a list of your Chrome App(s) previously uploaded to the Chrome Web Store.

We’re here to help

For more information about this change or if you need assistance, you can refer to any of the following:

• Transition from Chrome Apps guide.
• ChromeOS developer community on Discord.
• ChromeOS release schedule for release dates and updates.

We thank our community of developers who have provided feedback to help us shape this modified and simplified approach. We are inspired by a future beyond Chrome Apps, where the ecosystem continues forward progress, leveraging web apps and extensions to provide world-class experiences for our users.

Thank you for being a valued ChromeOS developer.

–The ChromeOS Team

[slvandewalle_gb]

Edit 2025/01/08: There is a report that will show this information. See this support page about the Chrome Apps And Extensions Usage Report.

We received messaging similar to this about both Chrome Apps and and apps that use NaCl. Both messages contained a version of the below paragraph. It appears that there is no way to see what apps are actually impacted in the Apps and Extensions screen that you are directed to in the messages.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get a list of impacted apps? 

What you need to do

To determine which Chrome apps you have configured for your devices:

1. In the Admin console, go to the Devices > Chrome > Apps & Extensions to view the apps you have configured.
2. To filter by Chrome apps click “+ Search or add a filter” and add a filter for Type, and select Chrome. This list will include both Chrome apps and Chrome extensions. Only Chrome apps are being discontinued.

Please engage with the developers of your apps as soon as possible to discuss their Chrome App migration options. Developers have been advised to communicate with their customers about their Chrome App migration plan.

New Chrome Apps can’t be added to the Chrome Web Store, however, existing Chrome Apps can continue to be updated through October 2028, after which they will no longer be supported on ChromeOS, and will be removed from the Chrome Web Store.

[Justin_W]

Is there a way to filter ONLY the apps affected by this change?

Or to approach it a slightly different way - from the admin panel, how do I know which is a "chrome app" and which is a "chrome extension" (and of course, which of those is "NaCl" and being phased out)

Their instructions seem to tell you to filter with a method that shows affected and non-affected apps.

[slvandewalle_gb]

Not that I am aware of, no. They point you to the Apps and Extensions configuration area but no where does it say if an app is a Chrome App or if it uses NaCl. Opening up the store page the only way to tell is if the developer put that information in the overview.

Edit: If you open a store page for app outside of Google admin it will tell you that it isn't supported by your browser. 
Example: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/vernier-graphical-analysi/dncgedbnidfkppmdgfgidcepclnokpkb

[Justin_W]

Well that's lousy.

Thanks!

[slvandewalle_gb]

Hey, there is actually a report that will show this. It is called Chrome Apps And Extensions Usage Report.

https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/kb/how-to-view-app-and-extension-usage-details-000008087

[Kim_Nilsson]

I just received an email update, which listed exactly which Chrome Apps that are supposed to stop working, a great many of those are Google's own!

Here is the updated timeline.

https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/15950395

There is also a banner on top of the Apps management page in the admin console.

https://admin.google.com/ac/chrome/apps/

Clicking the link opens up a special window which lists them.

• Fractions, by The Math Learning Center
• SketchUp for Schools
• Google Sites
• Universal Kiosk
• Lucidchart for Education
• Kiosk
• Number Line, by The Math Learning Center
• Google Drive
• Google Keep - Notes and Lists
• Google Forms
• Gmail
• Sheets
• School Video Recorder for Google Drive
• GeoGebra Classic
• GeoGebra Graphing Calculator
• Calculator
• Zoom
• Trelson Kiosk App
• Ladibug
• Text
• Google Apps Script
• diagrams.net
• Text Editor
• WeDo 2.0 LEGO® Education
• YouTube
• Stop Motion Animator
• Google Classroom
• Google Drawings
• Pattern Shapes, by The Math Learning Center
• Geoboard, by The Math Learning Center
• Slides
• Readium
• Number Pieces, by The Math Learning Center
• Docs

I wonder if Google is aware that so many of them are their own.

@Kristal what do you think?

[Josh]

FYI. Concerning the Google Apps. This doesn't appear to include all of the Google apps but a list of PWA URLs to replace the Chrome App IDs deployment were published in the ChromeOS release notes a while back.

At the time the recommendation was to deploy the apps using the PWA URL going forwards and remove any references to the Chrome App ID.

I just found a similar list at the bottom of the 'Add Apps' section in the support site. https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6177447?hl=en#zippy=%2Cadd-apps:~:text=For%20sites%20wher...

Aside from the ChromeOS release notes, and that was maybe ~2 years ago, I haven't seen any messaging from Google advising how to navigate replacing the Google Workspace apps during this transition.

@Kristal  If someone is in contact with the appropriate Google teams, it might be worth mentioning to include some of this information in their notifications.

[Kim_Nilsson]

Thanks for that reference, Josh.

I imagine that those URLs can't be used to push the installs, but should be used by the individual user to install the PWA manually? So can be published on an intranet page, but probably not pushed?

[slvandewalle_gb]

We have a testing platform that is a PWA that we push out as a kiosk (Bluebook for college board / AP testing). With that in mind I don't see why you wouldn't be able to push these out just like you would any other app. You would just choose the URL option instead of from the app store. 

[mfoley]

Also it Chrome sign builder is not on the list for some reason and its going away as well.   

Chrome Sign Builder—End of support 

I also tried Option 2 and I get sign in window, even though its a published to the web URL. 

[Kim_Nilsson]

Yeah, the potential replacement app, Comeen Play (Option 1), is $27/screen/month.

That's an increase from 0 regardless of how many screens. In a small organisation that's perhaps fine, but if you have many screens, that quickly becomes silly expensive.

[Kim_Nilsson]

Hmmm, a published Google Slides file should not require sign-in.

[kaned]

Correct, we do this exact thing, we just wanted to spruce up our screens with the weather and current time.

If it's published, you can use that link as a pwa and be good.  You don't get some of the scheduling features of CSB though...  So if you're using some of the scheduling features and other things of Chrome sign builder, you may be better off looking at a solution, otherwise, managing the content on the slides may become overwhelming.

[zzimbler]

Just a thought for you all - but since it's just displaying a link you could use a free version of Figma or Canva and use publicly shareable but sufficiently obfuscated links?

For example:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAGvM-wXrEI/uyF0hqJM9uuc6ZgNmblULQ/view?utm_content=DAGvM-wXrEI&utm_cam...
I think you should be able to match the aspect ratio of the TVs with a bit more effort

[Kristal]

I do not know who has been made aware of this.  Very interesting though.

[DanielO]

Sorry to bump. What's the recommended process as an admin to upgrade from Chrome Apps to PWAs? I'd like to keep pages like Google Classroom pinned on the taskbar for student devices, but attempting to add classroom.google.com as a PWA asks for a Manifest ID.

Adding as a normal webpage - "browser tab" or "separate window" - adds the page as "Sign in - Google Accounts" which could get very confusing very fast.

[DanielO]

For anyone looking at this in the future, I ended up pinning the URL to Google Classroom as a browser tab, and manually set its name and icon. Probably not ideal, but it works.

[slvandewalle_gb]

I wish that custom name and icon setting was an option for kiosk apps. They default to the title of the website and if that is blank it goes to the URL. I currently have one deployed that is called "Create React App Sample."