Building & distributing chrome extensions and web apps

1. Building & Distributing Chrome
Extensions and Web Apps
Tiger Feng
Sept 2, 2010
Beijing, China

2. Agenda
Chrome Extensions
History, current and beyond
Installable Web Apps
What, why and how
Q&A

3. What are Chrome Extensions
Enhancements / features for Google Chrome
Written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Including browser action, page action,
content script...
Run in separate processes
Installed instantly
Updated automatically

4. Hosting Chrome Extensions
Chrome Extensions Gallery
A gallery hosting browser extensions
Helps Google Chrome users find
extensions
Helps developers to publish extensions

5. History
Q3 2008, Google Chrome beta launches
Q4 2008, Google Chrome entered stable
Q3 2009, Themes
Q3 2009, Extensions developer launch
Q4 2009, Extensions consumer launch (Gallery
beta)
Q1, 2010, Gallery official launch
Q3 2010, next generation developer launch
Q4 2010 and beyond, next generation consumer
launch

6. Current usage
Thousands of extensions already,
growing fast
10 million extensions downloaded per
month
Many extensions are from China and
are used by Chinese

7. What Gallery provides
Bridge between developers and users
Hosting service for extension packages
Directory for discovering extensions
Auto-update service
User ratings & reviews
Ranking extensions by popularity

8. Next Generation:
Chrome Web Store
Open marketplace for web apps
Announced at Google I/O on June 19, 2010
Opens later this year in the US, will expand
internationally in 2011
Will also supports themes, in addition to apps &
extensions
Note: Chrome Web Store is not launched to China market yet.

9. New concept:
Installable Web Apps
It's just a web app ... built using any
server-side or web technologies you like
Only addition:
Packaging the app & making it
"installable" in Google Chrome

10. New concept:
Installable Web Apps

11. Types of Installable Web Apps
Packaged app
All content bundled into an archive
Users download the archive during installation
Similar to extensions, but presents an app-like
user interface
Hosted app
Regular web site, plus some metadata
Need verification that the developer owns the
website

12. Building a Packaged App
A packaged app is just an extension that presents an app-style
user interface.
Sample manifest for a packaged web app:

13. Building a Hosted App
Sample manifest for a hosted web app:

14. How to build and publish
1. Create an app using your favorite web
technologies

15. How to build and publish
2. Create a wrapper: Manifest file with
metadata + icons

16. How to build and publish
3. Upload: Upload the package (.zip file) to
Chrome Web Store (Extension Gallery)

17. How to build and publish
4. Edit & add info: Description, language,
categories, videos

18. How to build and publish
5. Publish: Most apps are immediately
available to the world

19. Installation from Web Store
Installed same way as extensions
No restart needed
Once installed, a big icon in Google Chrome's
app launcher will show up
When running, has a special frame and other UI
to make it easier to distinguish from other web
content.

20. Benefits of Chrome Web Store
Distribute your web apps to 70M+
Google Chrome users (growing fast)
Target HTML5 and the latest web
technologies of modern browsers
Small learning curve
Easy to distribute
Low maintenance needs

21. Business Opportunity!
Global impact
Early mover advantage
Easy access to the store and apps
directly in Google Chrome
Technical support and guidance
In-store promotion and other on-going
marketing efforts

22. Learn more
Google Chrome Web Store
chrome.google.com/webstore
Chrome Extensions
code.google.com/chrome/extensions/
Installable Web Apps & Web Store APIs
code.google.com/chrome/webstore/
Google I/O '10 about Chrome Web Store
bit.ly/webstore-googleio-video

23. Q&A
Thank you for your patience!
Questions, ideas, suggestions?
Keep in touch:
groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/
chromium-extensions
tigerf@google.com