[NewsPoster]

Google is attempting to increase the number of places people can run Android apps, by bringing them to desktops. The App Runtime for Chrome (ARC) tool was initially brought out for Chrome OS, but Google has expanded the development tool's availability to the Chrome browser, allowing the Android apps to run on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, all from within the browser itself.

Released in beta on the Chrome Web Store under the name ARC Welder, the software is intended to allow developers to test out their Android apps for use on Chrome OS. According to Ars Technica, ARC uses Native Client (NaCL,) a Chrome sandboxing technology that lets apps run at "near native" speeds, using the processor and GPU of the host system, and effectively allowing the same app to be run on a large number of operating systems.

While smartphones are slowly migrating to Android Lollipop, ARC Welder uses the older Android 4.4, meaning it runs the slower Dalvik VM instead of Android Run Time (ART). Unlike the original ARC release, the new version does connect to Google Play Services, though only for five core APIs rather than the full suite, something which should make it easier to create compatible apps. Even so, developers must enable Play Services on ARC before their app can be used, cutting down the potential for experimentation by other users.

The release of ARC Welder is certainly a sign Google is serious in its intentions to make Android apps accessible to anyone, even if they resort to using the Chrome browser instead of Android itself. Being able to run the same app on multiple platforms without having to worry about each operating system's architecture is an attractive prospect to developers, though there may be a considerable wait before users can go on Google Play or the Chrome Web Store and run their chosen app directly from their browser.

[ElectroTech]

I had no idea that people would want Android stuff on a Mac. If you have a Mac and and Android phone or tablet, I wonder what would possess someone to choose that combination?

[Inkling]

DO NOT GET CHROME. I just followed a first-page Google link to get Chrome. I ended up with a download from hell. The people who supplied it have corrupted Safari, so I now get a series of security warning messages that keep popping up when I used Safari despite the fact that I refused all the do-this, do that message. Google gave me that link. Chrome is their product. They are responsible for this hostageware horror. One of these scammers names is Real Image repair and one of their addresses is http://www.reimageplus.com DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DOWNLOAD CHROME until Google tracks down these jerks and forces them to stop. They trash Safari, I assume, until you pay them money. Sic your lawyers on them Google! Sue the socks off them! And please yank them from all Google searches.

[Inkling]

I tracked down where I got that corrupted Chrome installer. It was from downloads4.mac. It's a really irritating beast. Ads have are popping up at the top of my screen at Apple.com and electronista.com. It's clearly intended as ransomware. It's screws up Safari so badly, you're not going to buy from them. Just pay to get rid of it. I have contacted downloads4mac and told them about it. They seem to be a legit site. Now I have to figure out how to fix Safari.

[Inkling]

One more comment. Apple seems to have a post about this particular MacDefender malware and how to fix it here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202225

What I said about Google doing something still applies. These jerks targeted a Google product. Google needs to inflict some real pain on them.

[just a poster]

Your first mistake was downloading Chrome. That's a direct line to the NSA via google.

Stick to firefox, which has more privacy plugins than any browser on earth. Protect yourself and your family by learning to modify your /etc/hosts file to block adware, incoming and outgoing traffic from malicious domains run by facebook, google, and twitter.

Use an anonymous VPN from a trusted, no-log provider with its own DNS service.

It's worth it.

[Inkling]

Another report. That Apple page I linked is of little use. The security fix it links to doesn't work past 10.6. The manual process at it a host of other websites don't work either. This beast doesn't leave an app running, set up a log-in etc. It does inject a lot of trash on Safari screens that don't seem easily cleared. This may be MacDefender, but it is a different beast that the 2011 version. Security people at Apple, Google etc need to get on it. Note that I got it from Downloads4mac.com as the Chrome download if you'd like to give it a whirl. Otherwise, stay away. It is a nasty nuisance.

[Charles Martin]

Inkling: I suspect a quick download of Adware Medic (http://adwaremedic.com) would fix the issues. Sorry you got an infected Chrome download, but its important to download only from known-good sources and to keep your built-in Apple security turned on to "Mac App Store and registered developers only." The known-good download sites we recommend (apart from Apple's store itself obviously) are the developer's site directly, and MacUpdate.com.

[Charles Martin]

As for the ability to run Android apps in the Chrome brower, that's an interesting feature that might allow users to check out some free Android apps to get a feel for that system if they're not familiar -- assuming one is not troubled by Chrome's privacy track record -- but as most Android apps are not really unique to the platform (most are ports of iOS apps), the novelty may wear off fairly quickly. Still, if you use Chrome and want to run some mobile apps in a browser on your Mac, this is a way to do that. I'd love to see Apple offer the ability to run iOS apps in a similar manner on OS X, though I suppose you can kind of do it now with the aid of third-party AirPlay apps like X-Mirage.

[Inkling]

Many thanks Charles, for the suggestion.. Adware Medic found about half-a-dozen adware and cleared them out clean as a whistle. I should give them a donation. I did have a SuperDuper backup from yesterday, so ultimately I wasn't worried, but that'd take some time to load.

Still, this does tick me off. These bottom feeders depend on credit card transactions. Apple, Microsoft, Google and others should go after them there and sponsor a class action lawsuit. If Apple needs any other rationale, this one was putting fake ads and bogus links on Apple's own support page.

[DiabloConQueso]

The moral of the story is to download applications directly from the company's website or the Apple App Store and bypass any kind of Mac software aggregation service (like downloads4mac.com, etc.), which typically wrap the actual application in a custom installer that "helpfully" installs a number of unrelated (and questionable) applications alongside the actual one you're interested in installing.

There's no reason anyone should be downloading Google Chrome from anywhere but http://www.google.com/chrome. The problematic experience(s) above have little to do with Google Chrome itself and much to do with where it was downloaded from.