There are two mobile consumer operating systems created by Google: the more popular Android and Chrome OS.

Android has gained more traction among users for its touchscreen optimization and for being so ubiquitous as a smartphone platform. On the other hand, Chrome OS was designed for the laptop or desktop platform, which means it doesn’t work on touchscreen.

For a long time the two Google platforms existed side by side, but catering for their own separate market. But over the last two years, rumor had it that Google was eventually going to push Android and Chrome OS together.

Even though people thought the platforms would merge, Google has always denied the possibility. However, the company’s executives are now saying the two will be closer aligned.

The way they operate has always been one of the most basic structural differences between the two platforms.

Chrome OS was designed to rely heavily on Google’s infrastructure – you can download and run apps on the device, but the Chrome OS platform caches data from the Google service in local storage and sync it when it gets an Internet connection.

One of the projects that would have seen Google’s platforms coming much closer involved giving Chrome OS the ability to run Android apps. Google – and outside developers – has already experimented with this, giving users some Android apps that can now run on the Chrome OS platform.

It’s called the ARC project, and it enables Chrome OS to run apps written for other platforms including Android and Windows; they only need a little tweaking first. Even though Google has held off any official news on the subject, it appears the company has indeed been quietly working on the project.

But more recently, Reddit user TheWiseYoda spotted something interesting: the option to “Enable Android Apps to run on your Chromebook” has appeared in the Google Chromebook settings.

The new option is not particularly exciting without the reference to the Google Play Store it contains. It would mean that over a million applications would become available for the Chromebook platform, linked directly to the Android collection.

If Google will eventually green-light this project, it would open up a potentially huge market for developers, while also expanding the functionality of our Chromebooks.

Nevertheless, it would be a smart move on Google’s behalf to allow Android apps to run on the Chromebook, bringing all sorts of good news for consumers who own both an Android smartphone and Chromebook.
Image Source: OMG Chrome