Google first announced that Android apps would be coming to Chrome OS in 2016. Currently, Android apps are finally spreading out to almost everyone with a recent Chromebook, but it still does not work effectively. There are still a lot of limitations with Android apps on Chrome OS. One of the most prominent shortcomings of Chrome OS and a setback to using a mobile and web-first operating system, is to show that applications that do not act like desktop software should. Reports state that Google is at work to address this issue with an upcoming update to Chrome OS that should make Android apps run smoothly in the background. Currently, these apps which are a part of Google’s wider push to unify certain aspects of Android and Chrome will pause if you switch away from them, thereby creating some problems for people who like to heavily multitask on their desktop and it can also be extremely annoying for those coming from other platforms.
Chrome Unboxed was the first to notice the feature called Android Parallel Tasks within Chrome OS 64, which is currently only available on Google’s beta channel; which lets Android apps run at full eager irrespective of what you are doing. You could watch a video in a mobile app while you are surfing the web, or take a break from a mobile game without breaking transitions. We can and should expect the feature to make its way to the public version of Chrome OS at one time in the near future; however it is not clear exactly when. Be that as it may, it is bracing to see that Google is taking steps to make Android apps on Chrome OS more robust and desktop-like, especially after the buggy beta period earlier this year.
Since the feature is only available in Chrome beta right now, there’s no absolute guarantee that it will arrive on the stable channel; still, it would be shocking if it didn’t.
