The application has been accessible for a long time, and gives straightforward access to Zoom meetings but without any additional functionality. It’s severely restricted when it comes to most features and hasn’t seen a notable update in quite some time.
For what reason is the Zoom application closing down? In part, because it’s built on an aging technology.
The older application is a “traditional” Chrome application, which hasn’t been especially significant for a couple of years at this point. Most quite, Google declared in August 2020 that it would phase out Chrome applications on all platforms. For Windows, Mac, and Linux, support finished in June 2021.
As of June 2022, Google is pulling the plug on Chrome applications on Chrome OS, as well, with new applications no longer being accepted and all current applications becoming private and unlisted in the Chrome Web Store.
With that in mind, it’s a good idea that Zoom would end official help for its application.
But as further motivation, Zoom debuted a Progressive Web App for Chromebooks back in 2021, which has seen several major updates over the past year.
What are Progressive Web Apps?
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) basically work like websites but provide an app-like experience. Instead of installing apps, these work like regular websites.
The Zoom for Chrome PWA is a superior equipped version of what the original application was and one that acts more like what Zoom offers on Windows and macOS. The full-featured application has a familiar UI close by more advanced features including background blur. Even when we took an early look at the app when it launched, we were pretty happy with the improvements it brought.
However, the Zoom for Chrome PWA didn’t come without some hiccups, a few that hurt existing users of the Chromebook application.
At the point when the PWA launched, it didn’t support some features on low-end Chromebooks. Gallery view specifically was a unfortunate loss on anything without at least a quad-center processor. Bugs with broken video feeds were also common at the time. Fortunately, Zoom has made improvements after some time, to the point where the PWA is now an fantastic experience.
If you are still using a traditional zoom application for Chromebooks, it doesn’t seem like it will quit working right away, however its time is certainly limited. Eventually, we expect the app will just cease to work.
