Following up on the Chrome browser's 5th birthday celebration, Google announced a new kind of Chrome app, which the company says "brings together the speed, security, and flexibility of the modern web with the powerful functionality previously only available with software installed on your devices." Put another away, these apps run in a Chrome browser session but look and act like regular applications you'd install and run on your PC or tablet.

In an interview with Time, Google's product lead on Chrome Apps, Erik Kay, said the company's hope is to "dispel the notion that Chrome OS is just a web browser." He admitted that there are "legitimate uses" that aren't possible on today's Chromebooks, and Chrome Apps will help address that.


If you're rocking Windows a Chromebook, you can check them out for yourself in the "For your desktop" collection in the Chrome Web Store (for those of you running Mac or Linux, you'll get your chance soon, Google says). With the new Chrome apps, you can work offline, interact with connected devices, and more.

One of the new Chrome apps is Pixlr Touch Up. This is a basic photo editing tool that allows you to touch up, crop, resize, and adjust photos from your PC or Google Drive. You can also apply film-inspired effects. And as mentioned, you can do all this offline even though it takes place within Chrome.

Your move, Microsoft.