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General Discussion

Posted by Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson
8,943 Points

Chromebook & the ability to create Apps

I need a new computer and am interested in the Chromebook for a few reasons:

  1. Cheap
  2. My girlfriend bought one and I like it.
  3. Google Chrome has Dev Tools and I like that too.

I do, however, want to create apps as well as become a web developer. I want to do it all :)

I was just wondering if I could do it all with one or the other computer i.e. Mac, PC, Chromebook, etc.

I'm thinking I could get a Chromebook and then just come back to a Mac later when I'm skilled enough to dive into the iOS development, or I could use VMWare which seems to give me the ability to create iOS apps on my Chromebook.

If anyone could clarify for me I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

5 Answers

Nicholas Mejia
Nicholas Mejia
23,800 Points
Nicholas Mejia
Nicholas Mejia
23,800 Points

You can do it all on one computer but if your going to write for iOS, I don't recommend going the PC/Chromebook route because when it comes time to deploy it or submit it to the appstore, you will need a mac.

For web dev, a chrome book would work just as well as a mac though the mac shell comes pre equipped with a lot of tools for console that your going to eventually start using.

I hope this helped.

Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson
8,943 Points
Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson
8,943 Points

Gotcha, that does help.

Thanks so much!

Michael Hulet
Michael Hulet
47,912 Points
Michael Hulet
Michael Hulet
47,912 Points

I have a Chromebook (Acer C7), and I gotta say, it's not that great.. As for the web development issue, no, you cannot. There are websites that allow you to do it online, and you can install their Chrome App into the Chrome browser on your Chromebook, but you don't have any SFTP clients to actually upload your code to a server or anything.. Also, VMWare isn't supported on ChromeOS. I've tried it, and trust me, it's definitely not the right way to go. I'd just get a Mac now.

Nicholas Mejia
Nicholas Mejia
23,800 Points

This is an excellent point. It didn't even occur to me that chromebook runs on it's own OS that isn't compatible with a lot of the great tools you want to use.

I agree with Mike, stick with the mac. It's worth the extra money.

Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson
8,943 Points
Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson
8,943 Points

I love Apple products, but mine is 5 years old and just becoming a pain to keep running so I'm at a crossroads of what to do. I appreciate the advice though. I've always thought it was worth it's price. Doesn't change the fact that the price is steep though

Adam Fichman
Adam Fichman
9,502 Points
Adam Fichman
Adam Fichman
9,502 Points

Actually you CAN do plenty of web design and development on a Chromebook. It might not be as easy to get started with as it is with a mac or windows machine, but the tools are there. It just takes a some research. There are plenty of online IDE's that have great feature sets and allow development on a chromebook.

So, it CAN be done. I'm not however saying it's necessarily the best workflow. I own a Samsung chromebook and while I actually do love it and use it for most of my day to day online stuff(including replying to this right now), it is not my primary development machine. I only use it for on the go purposes when nothing to intensive is required.

The thing with Chromebooks is making sure that you are 100% aware of what they can and can not do.