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Android Apps Now Unofficially Able To Run On Any Major Desktop OS
An anonymous reader writes A developer who goes by the handle Vladikoff has tweaked Google's App Runtime for Chrome (ARC) to allow any Android app to run on any major desktop operating system, not just the handful announced last week which were also limited to Chrome OS. His tweaked version of ARC is re-packaged as ARChon. The install isn't very straightforward, and you have to be in developer mode on Chrome. But there's a support forum on reddit. The extension will work on any OS running the desktop version of Chrome 37 and up as long as the user also installs chromeos-apk, which converts raw Android app packages (APKs) to a Chrome extension. Ars Technica reports that apps run this way are buggy, fast, and crash often but expresses optimism for when Google officially "opens the floodgates on the Play Store, putting 1.3 million Android apps onto nearly every platform."
It's worth noting that the Android API already provides methods and identifiers specifically for handling mice and styluses. see http://developer.android.com/r... and http://developer.android.com/r...
http://www.genymotion.com/
"Genymotion, the fastest Android emulator for app testing and presentation."
I used the free version just so I could see acertain app really work (www.flightradar24.com) and was impressed.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
Have you actually tried it ? I've got an Android **desktop**, and it's usable. Most apps understand mouse buttons and wheel; the lack of the usual sensors and touchscreen is only a problem in some games.
Things could be better: I miss keyboard shortcuts, right click for Back is silly, and zooming in/out seems to be up to the OEMs. But overall, it's more than usable.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.