You can find extensions in the Chrome Web Store, and when you install one, it will appear as a little icon in the top-right corner of your Chrome browser. This can range from data savers, to ad blockers, to dictionaries that let you double-click on a word in Chrome and instantly get its meaning. Chrome extensions are add-ons to Chrome designed to improve your experience in various ways. This one’s much easier to explain, thankfully. Which leads to the next question: what is a Chrome Extension? Chrome Extensions If you’re looking for an ad-blocker, Web Clipper, or any number of things for Chrome, whether you search for “Chrome app” or “Chrome extension,” you’ll end up with an extension. (This is also due to the fact that Chrome OS is becoming increasingly compatible with Android apps via the Play Store.)īut for regular PC users, Chrome apps have been blended into extensions these days. On Chrome OS, in the Web Store you’ll still find an “Apps” section, but this is steadily being populated with Progressive Web Apps or website links that run through your browser. But in late 2017 Google got rid of these traditional Chrome apps, as it pushed the idea of “Progressive Web Apps,” which essentially turn websites into instantly accessible apps from your desktop or phone home screen. This wasn’t always the case, as the Web Store used to have a dedicated “Apps” section with standalone desktop apps available there.

As proof, if you go to the Extensions page in the Chrome web store, in the address bar replace the word “extensions” with “apps ” it will actually redirect back to the extensions page!

Probably the most ambiguous of the three things we’ll be covering in this guide, Chrome apps can mean more than one thing.įirst, and most simply, Google itself refers to apps and extensions interchangeably. Here we explain the differences between Chrome apps, plugins and extensions, so you will always know what you’re looking for. But what is the difference between these three things? If you’re looking to get an ad-blocker, is that an app or extension? And what if you need to watch an embedded video on a website, but it’s not working?

Google chrome app store extensions