Chrome will end up Eating Android’s Lunch

You can call it the Chromification of Android.

There's a war ranging on inside Google. It is a war between the Chrome team and the Android team. I don't know if this is an invented war that goes inside my head only.

There's the Android team. They go and look up at Apple's iOS as their competitor. Playing catch up in some areas and running faster in others. They have the same thought processes: Apps economy

• Get developers to use Java APIs
• Get better integration with hardware, devices and peripherals
• Build and enhance their app store
• Try to deal with the likes of Amazon, Samsung and Xiaomi who enjoy Android by try to monetize it instead of letting Google do that
• Push the envelope into new territory – smartwatch (maybe), TV (rumored)

And then there's the Chrome team. They are all into replacing Microsoft Windows:

• Getting Chrome browser and the web in general to do whatever is possible on a PC natively: WebGL, Web Audio, WebRTC, etc.
• Get Chrome to run as an OS of its own – Chromium OS
• Add an app environment
• Map mobile capabilities to HTML5: push notification, location, etc.

Here's the real question though: what happens when you look into the future?

Is it going to be HTML5 apps or native apps? A hybrid approach?

What happens if we end up with a successful Firefox OS ecosystem or a Tizen one? Both of these mobile operating systems are HTML5 only. What is the direct competitor Google has in front of them? Is it Chrome OS or Android?

I think the Chrome one wins

• They are in the process of onboarding everything you need to develop in HTML5
• They are getting it to run just as fast as native code
• They have a better cross platform development story

The signs we can see of this happening is the replacement of the default browser in Android to Chrome in the recent releases of Android and the switch to using Chrome inside application web views in the KitKat release of Android (=latest version).

A web view is a way for a native app (in both Android and iOS) to run HTML5 code. It is one of the mechanisms used for cross platform development. Switching it to Chrome means tighter integration of Android to Chrome, and in the future, it might mean faster time to market for new versions.

I assume Google are working to get web views updated faster than Android versions – making the browser portion of Android to improve at the speed of the web. A lot more releases, in less time, for a better solution. It may also be a good strategy against Amazon and Samsung breaking rank – an incentive for others to stay within the official Android ecosystem.

Both teams seem very aggressive, but somehow, I think the Chrome team are the ones running with their knives between their teeth, trying to gobble up everything in their way – including Android's lunch.