Googlebooks may be positioned as the next step for Google’s lightweight computing platform, but they currently have a frustrating app problem: they don’t offer the same level of web app or Linux app support as Chromebooks.
Googlebooks rely heavily on Android apps and web apps for core functionality, with the Play Store even directing users towards the apps it considers best suited to the platform. But Progressive Web App support isn’t quite as flexible as it is on ChromeOS.
Most web apps can be installed without much trouble, but Slack is a notable exception. Google confirmed that Slack’s web app isn’t considered “compliant”, meaning it can’t currently be installed on Googlebooks despite the same web app working on platforms including Windows and ChromeOS.
The good news is that Google says this isn’t necessarily permanent. Chrome on ChromeOS can manually install web apps even when they aren’t technically PWAs, and Google says that capability is coming to Googlebooks soon. So the Slack problem looks more like a limitation of the current software than a permanent incompatibility.
Moreover, Linux support is where things get considerably messier. Chromebooks have supported Linux apps since 2018, and the feature eventually became one of ChromeOS’s more useful ways to get around gaps in its Android and web app selection. Installing full desktop applications through Linux wasn’t always particularly straightforward, but once installed, apps could appear alongside everything else in the app drawer.
Googlebooks currently don’t offer that same experience. Google provides a Terminal app with a Debian Linux environment, allowing users to install developer tools, coding environments and other Linux applications. However, Google says GUI apps aren’t the main focus of the initial Googlebook release.
That means running graphical Linux software is possible, but it’s far from polished. There is little documentation explaining how to get these apps running, and reports suggest GUI applications can appear inside a single Terminal window rather than getting their own Android-style window or taskbar presence. One user also reported reliability problems with GIMP.
For anyone who just wants a simple laptop for everyday apps, this probably won’t matter much. But for users who relied on Chromebook’s Linux support to fill in software gaps, Googlebooks currently feels like a step backwards rather than an upgrade.
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