But why would you want to manage your apps and how can you accomplish that? Let’s dive in and find out.
Reasons you’ll want to manage any app on a Chromebook are the same as a phone
Now, the primary reason that anybody would want to manage any app on their Chromebook is going to be the same as on Android. Namely, for security and privacy. And that’s because, just as on Android, those apps have permissions. And those permissions manage Android apps on a Chromebook by giving them the ability to access everything from the camera to location and account data, just as any app on the mobile platform can. Of course, permissions do more than just increase the level of functionality of any given app too — whether on Android or Chromebook. They also potentially serve as vectors for malicious access that users wouldn’t necessarily want. So turning permissions on or off is an activity that just about any user should learn to accomplish. Also like Android, any user of an app on a Chromebook can additionally manage notifications. Those can be turned on or off outright. Or users can choose to manage them more deeply, activating quieter notifications in Chrome, for example. Effectively negating the potentially counterproductive or downright annoying notifications some apps can send. And that latter feature can be particularly helpful for those syncing their mobile device via Phone Hub. Or via any of the other available methods for pushing notifications from their phone to their Chromebook. Finally, managing apps means that users can readily and easily turn on or off by default the app resizing features recently added by Google to the OS. Namely, the feature that keeps apps locked between either Phone or landscape tablet orientations rather than allowing them to potentially break by resizing up to fill the screen. That can, of course, be done on an app-by-app basis as those apps are opened. But it can also be accomplished more broadly, which is the final topic we’ll discuss in this guide. So without further ado, let’s explore the “how” behind these features.
Here’s how to manage an app or apps on a Chromebook
There are several ways to go about managing the apps that are installed on your Chromebook. Here, we’ll discuss the easiest and most common ways you’ll want to manage any app on your Chromebook.
Here’s the easy way to manage a single app on your Chromebook
Learning to manage a single Android app on your Chromebook is an easy process. And one that should be familiar to any user on the Android platform.
See every app installed and manage those too
Conversely, you can also manage apps using the dedicated Settings menu and that may be a bit easier for some. Particularly for those that want to manage all of their apps.
How to perform basic app management via the Chromebook app manager
How to manage Android app deeper permissions, data, and more on Chromebook
Now, in the initial App info screen, you will see options to manage some of the permissions for the app on your Chromebook. But there are deeper options that can be addressed as well.
You can also adjust apps that have Chrome’s new preset window sizes
Of course, with the latest updates to Chrome OS, some changes have been made to how the system lets you manage an Android app beyond those things too. Namely, by allowing users to continue resizing some apps as normal. While others are locked into a select scale for better usability. Gmail, for example, is one such app.
Resize your apps again via the Chromebook app management menu
Changing the app size for those apps is no longer a straightforward task. Or at least it isn’t as straightforward as tapping and dragging the edges. As is the case in Windows and other operating systems. And as used to be the case for those same Android apps on a Chromebook. Fortunately, we’ve already got a guide that can walk you through the process of changing that via one method. But there is another way to set up the apps too. And that can be found in the same menus above, making it easier to manage multiple apps in rapid succession. As opposed to opening up all of the apps individually while in the app.
