If you’re a Mac OS X user who likes to mix things up by using Chrome as a Web browser or Google+ to connect with friends, then you’ll probably want to give the just released beta Chrome OS App Launcher a try.
After rolling out a developer’s version of the app launcher for Windows users back in February, Google is finally ready to bring the beta launcher to OS X. Chromium evangelist François Beaufort took to Google+ to announce the happy news yesterday.
The app launcher, which will be bundled with future releases of the Chrome browser and is already preloaded on Chromebooks, lets you open apps that are written for the Web (in HTML 5, Javascript, and CSS), without requiring that you to open the actual browser. In addition, the apps will even work when your computer is not connected to the Internet. As you can see in the above picture, some of the handy Chrome apps that you can access from your computer desktop include Gmail, Google Drive, and even the Google Play app store.
Since this app launcher is still in beta, it’s not working as smoothly as promised at the moment. According to The Verge, when you click on an icon, the app will open in the Chrome browser, you’ll need to keep terminal opened and may not be able to launch multiple apps at the same time.
Still want to give the app launcher a whirl? You’ll need to download the latest build of Chromium, open up the terminal to run a command (the –show-app-list switch), and download at least one app from the Chrome Web Store to see the launcher in action.
