Chrome Web Store as a Distribution Channel

Tips
1

Depending on your app/audience, the Chrome Web Store might be a good channel to consider.

I’ve just packaged my To Do app and it’s incredibly simple to load your site into a Chrome App using the webview tag (which incidentally isn’t allowed with Chrome Extensions). If you’re interested, let me know and I can share the code.

And now for the shameless plug… :grin:

2

It’s awesome! I just 5 stared your app - just loved it!

Can you share how to do it?

3

Yeah I’d be curious to see what you did :slight_smile:

4

Please share how to do this !

5

Wow, great app, and very interested to know how to do this.

6

Thanks for the interest everyone.

So, there are a couple of links for official documentation that you might like to explore:

https://developer.chrome.com/apps/about_apps
https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/publish

But basically (aside from icons that you’ll see referred to in the manifest), there are 3 files you need to create to wrap your Bubble app into a Chrome App (similar to an iFrame):

  • manifest.json
  • background.js
  • window.html

Respectively the contents of these files are:

manifest.json

{ "name": "APP NAME", "description": "APP DESCRIPTION", "version": "0.1", "manifest_version": 2, "app": { "background": { "scripts": ["background.js"] } }, "icons": { "16": "p2d-16.png", "128": "p2d-128.png" }, "permissions": ["webview"] }

background.js

chrome.app.runtime.onLaunched.addListener(function() { chrome.app.window.create('window.html', { 'outerBounds': { 'width': 380, 'height': 550 } }); });

window.html

`<!doctype html>

TITLE `

You’ll note how I’ve specified the size of the window in these files.

@emmanuel - Given how easy this it, it strikes me that it would be quite easy to offer this as a feature. The inputs would be:

  • Name (also used for Window Title)
  • Description
  • Version
  • Window Size (x,y)
  • 2 x Icon Image Files
  • App URL (which Bubble already knows)

The outputs would then be those 3 files listed above.

7

Great idea.

8

Particularly as Chromebooks overtook sales of Macbooks last month :slight_smile:

9

Thank you for the feedback @csfalcao

10

good idea.

11

I would suggest to @emmanuel not only to advertise Bubble can distribute in this channel, but if possible automate the packaging and why not sending directly to Chrome Store would be king.

12

Thank you @benjamenus. It’s a new entire channel for us, your initiative was invaluable to the community.

13

@csfalcao Don’t thank me… I neglected to mention there’s a $5 account fee :wink: Also, the longevity of the Chrome Web Store is in question since Google are bringing the Play store to Chromebook very soon. There are some that think this marks the beginning of the end - though I suspect the true end is years away.

I’m currently exploring Firefox Addons and will probably also create a native Android wrapper around the web app (which is a bit lazy, but can work depending on the app purpose and usage). I’ll report back in due course.

14

hey @benjamenus

I’m curious to know if you have tried doing this using the “Add to Homescreen” approach in Chrome?

https://developer.chrome.com/multidevice/android/installtohomescreen

15

@Rogelio - it’s not something I was aware of. Many thanks for the tip-off.