{"id":8871,"date":"2016-03-23T13:44:58","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T17:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=8871"},"modified":"2016-03-23T13:44:58","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T17:44:58","slug":"google-kills-the-chrome-app-launcher-on-windows-mac-and-linux-pcworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/03\/23\/google-kills-the-chrome-app-launcher-on-windows-mac-and-linux-pcworld\/","title":{"rendered":"Google kills the Chrome app launcher on Windows, Mac, and Linux | PCWorld"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ian Paul<\/a>\u00a0 | PCWorld<\/a><\/p>\n

Google\u2019s attempted invasion of the Windows desktop<\/a> is now officially over. The Chrome-maker recently announced that the Chrome app launcher<\/a> will be removed from Windows, Mac, and Linux in July, though it\u2019ll stick around in Chrome OS. Google says it\u2019s dumping the app launcher in the name of streamlining the browser after discovering that most Chrome users \u201cprefer to launch their apps from within Chrome<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The app launcher was one of three Chrome browser features that appeared to be specifically designed to turn Chrome into a \u201cplatform within a platform\u201d on Windows. In addition to the app launcher\u2014which sat in the taskbar and allowed users to fire up Chrome apps just like a normal desktop program, miming Windows Start menu functionality\u2014Google killed Chrome\u2019s notification center<\/a> in October. That feature was replaced with native web push notifications, a standardized feature that sites can use across all browsers.<\/p>\n

Beyond those two features, Google also created a modern UI version of the browser for Windows 8 that essentially put Chrome OS inside Windows<\/a>. Microsoft\u2019s decision to do away with Windows 8\u2019s ill-advised dual UI for a more traditional desktop in Windows 10 killed Google\u2019s attempt at \u201cChrome OS for Windows.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact on you at home:<\/strong> If you\u2019re one of the few fans of Chrome\u2019s app launcher, Google may still provide a way for you to launch Chrome apps from the taskbar. Right now, you can create a desktop shortcut for Chrome apps by typing chrome:\/\/apps<\/code> into the Omnibox, right-clicking an app, and then selecting Create shortcuts.<\/em> The shortcut can then be dragged from the desktop onto the taskbar. We\u2019re confirming with Google that this functionality will remain once the app launcher goes away and will update this story should the company respond.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ian Paul\u00a0 | PCWorld Google\u2019s attempted invasion of the Windows desktop is now officially over. The Chrome-maker recently announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[190,192,424],"class_list":["post-8871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","tag-chrome","tag-chrome-os","tag-google"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-2j5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9938,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2025\/05\/16\/google-antitrust-ruling-breakdown-what-this-means-for-chrome-and-search\/","url_meta":{"origin":8871,"position":0},"title":"Google Antitrust Ruling Breakdown – What This Means for Chrome and Search","author":"NCCT","date":"May 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ELXjmrnN1uM The panel breaks down the antitrust ruling that could force Google to sell Chrome, stop paying Apple billions for default search placement, and fundamentally reshape the internet. 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