Mac App Store and Chrome Web Store bring apps to your desktop

I can’t remember the last time I visited a retailer to purchase a computer program. And it’s been a couple of years since the software I bought came in a box. The next phase of this digital transformation is upon us, and we’ve got our mobile phones to thank for the convenience.

Our mobile gadgets—Apple iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 devices, primarily—are not only storefronts, but software-management tools. After I download an application with my iPhone, the device, through the App Store, automatically updates the program when a new version is available. It’s easy, it’s convenient, and that same functionality is now appearing on our desktop computers.

Before we go any further, let’s make one thing clear: apps are programs. They’ve been called utilities, widgets, and extensions, but the terms all refer to the same thing. Software programs tell computer hardware what to do.

Apple reported more than one million downloads from the Mac App Store on its first day in January. It appears on all computers running the Mac OS X Snow Leopard operating system and allows you to add the kind of applications that have become so central to the mobile experience to your desktop. Real-time flight arrival and departure information apps and the popular Angry Birds games are good examples.

Also available is productivity software—word-processing and spreadsheet programs—that used to come in a box. In terms of games, there are the kind of casual games—hidden-object and puzzle games—you’re used to playing on your desktop computer. But there are also games such as Prey, which was released for the Xbox 360 in 2006 and was recently added to the Mac App Store. Other console experiences that can be played on a Mac with installation and updates handled by the App Store include hard-core titles like BioShock, Borderlands, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and games for kids such as Lego Harry Potter and the excellent Mini Ninjas.

Google’s doing things a bit differently. The Android operating system, which powers smartphones and tablets, runs applications, but when it comes to getting people productive on their desktop and laptop computers, Google’s leveraging its Chrome browser instead with the Chrome Web Store, which launched in December 2010.

On the phone from the company’s San Francisco offices, Google spokesperson Eitan Bencuya told the Georgia Straight that the store includes only applications that are made using standard web technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Flash. “What we wanted to do was create this Chrome Web Store where you have a digital storefront where you can view web applications that have been submitted, and view alongside those reviews, ratings, and comments to figure out which ones work best for you,” he said.

Chrome, according to Bencuya, is on the cutting edge of browsers, and is quick to adopt modern web technologies. “That means developers can start building really great applications that push the limits of what the web can do,” he said.

And because so many functions that used to be limited to desktop programs—spreadsheets, word processing, photo editing—can now be done with web applications, Google has turned Chrome into an operating system that’s going to be used for some notebook computers. (The first Chromebooks running Chrome OS will be released on June 15 in the U.S. and other countries.)

“It turns out that most people, when they buy computers, they’re using browsers most of the time anyway,” Bencuya said. “So who needs all the additional stuff?”

Bencuya plays Robot Unicorn Attack when he needs a distraction, but is quick to point out that there is a diverse selection of software, including games, available in the Chrome Web Store. You run most applications through the Chrome browser.

With some games, like PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies, for example, what you get is a free trial version embedded in the Chrome browser. If you decide you want the full version of the game, you are directed to download a piece of software to your computer.

Google makes it easy for developers to monetize their applications, whether they are games or otherwise. After paying a one-time developer registration fee of US$5, anyone can start uploading applications to the store. If you’re still in development, you can make the app visible only to testers.

Applications can take advantage of Google’s AdSense program to make money from advertising, and developers decide what to charge for their efforts. They can choose from a variety of payment systems, including Google’s. Bencuya said that with more than 120 million Chrome users, the Chrome Web Store is a great place to release games and other apps.