How to Run Android Apps in Google Chrome

In this video I show you how to run Android apps in Google Chrome. For this to work you will want Chrome 37 (or above) and the ArChon Runtime and a modified Android app, I’ll explain this later in the tutorial.

Installing ArChon Runtime

1. Firstly, we’ll want to download the ArChon Runtime (you can get thathere and choose either the 32 or 64 bit version).
2. Once it’s downloaded, unzip the archive.
3. Go to your extensions page by going onto Menu > More Tools > Extensions.
4. Enable Developer Mode by checking the box at the top right.
5. Click “Load unpacked extension”.
6. Browse and select the folder containing the ArChon Runtime.

The ArChon runtime will now be running as an extension in Chrome. If you see warnings do not worry as these will not affect the ability to run Android apps.

Installing Apps

There are two methods of getting android apps. One of them is to find an APK on the Internet (It is unlikely that a developer of a free app will not be concerned if you download an APK of their app of the web. However download a paid app APK is piracy and is illegal. We do not support piracy, we support the developers so download paid apps by paying for them) or use an installed app from your Android device. If the app does not work in Chrome, don’t write a bed review for the app as ArChon is not stable software and Android apps are not designed to be run on other operating systems other than Android.

Also, apps such as games haven’t worked for me so I’d stick to less resource intense apps.

twerk

If you have downloaded an APK from the web, you can use the Chrome App twerk to convert the APK.

1. Download twerk from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Open twerk and drop the APK package onto the pink button that says “Drop APK Here”.
3. Fill out the Application Name, for this example I used “Amazon”.
4. Fill out the package name, for this example I used “com.amazon.mShop.android”. Just make sure you do not add ‘.apk’ to the end of your package name.
5. Flip the switches to get the options you want for your app.
6. Click the twerk icon on the bottom of the app to convert your APK.
7. Open the Extensions page in Chrome.
8. Click “Load unpacked extensions.”
9. Select the folder of the app you just made in twerk.

ArChon Packager

If you want to use an application on your Android device, you can use theArChon Packager.

1. Download ArChon Packager from the Google Play Store.
2. Tap “Next”.
3. Select “Installed Application”.
4. Select the app from the list that you want to use.
5. Tap “Next”.
6. Make sure the settings are right, and then tap “Next”.
7. Plug in your device into your computer.
8. Navigate to the “ChromeAPKS” folder.
9. Copy the ZIP archive from your device onto your computer.
10. Extract the archive.
11. Open the Extensions page in Chrome.
12. Click “Load unpacked extensions.”
13. Select the folder of the archive.

Running the App

Go to your Chrome apps page and select the app you just created. If you do not have a Chrome Apps shortcut on the bookmarks bar, right click on it and select “Show apps shortcut”, or go to chrome://apps to show your Chrome apps.