How to Run Android Apps on Any Chromebook

Google recently released its very first developer preview with Android apps for Chromebook and it’s pretty wonderful. but, the brand-new Chrome OS replace is handiest available for the Asus Chromebook flip. While we can anticipate devices like Acer Chromebook R11 and Google Chromebook Pixel to get the update next, owners of other Chromebooks will have to wait for quite some time. According to Google’s latest timeline, other Chromebooks will get the Play Store build later this year or early next year.

If you are impatient, similar to us, there are other approaches to run Android apps on a Chromebook. To run Android apps on Chrome OS, we will be the use of the ARC Welder app to utilize Google’s App Runtime for Chrome OS (beta). So, right here’s the way to run Android apps via it:

Use Android apps on any Chromebook through ARC Welder:

1. Firstly, you will have to download the ARC Wielder app from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Then, download the APK files of apps you want to run on your Chromebook. You can download APK files from APKMirror.com.
3. After you have downloaded the APK file of an app, open the ARC Wielder app. In the app, you will see the one and only option to “Add your APK“. Click on the option.

4. Select the APK fileyou have downloaded from the Files app.                                                                                                      
5. After the app has loaded the APK file, you will get various options to customize your app experience. You can select theorientation (portrait or landscape), form factor (tablet, phone, maximized or fullscreen) and you can choose to give the app “Clipboard access” or not. Once done, click on “Test” to start the app.

6. If you have a loaded on the ARC Welder app previously, the app will prompt you to remove it, before it can start loading the new APK. Then, the app should start up. You can then start using app through mouse or touch, if your Chromebook supports it.

Important Points to Note:

The ARC Welder app is aimed toward builders looking to optimize their Android apps for the Chrome OS, so don’t assume exceptional performance out of it. However, if you are just looking to use a few Android apps on your Chromebook, it’s no longer too shabby both. Having said that, if you plan on using ARC Welder, here are some essential points to be aware:

• You should be a little patient after you’ve clicked “Test”, as some apps might take a longer time to load.
• According to developers, you should use Tablet or Maximized as the form factor and Landscape as the screen orientation for best results. You can resize the window of an app, like you would do on a normal app and the interface will scale accordingly.
• Not all the apps work! We tried out the APKs of most of the popular apps and only a few managed to play well with Chrome OS. This should get fixed with future Chrome OS updates, as Google starts integrating its Play Services.
• You should prefer downloading stable versions of apps, rather than trying out any beta or alpha builds of an app.