Sunday, July 24, 2011

20 Incredible Web Apps Found in the Chrome Web Store

2010 has been a great year for webapps, with dozens of new, exciting apps that let us move even more of our computer experience to the cloud. Google’s Web Store’s launch last month has accelerated this trend, and many new webapps with unique, often iPad style interfaces are now available for Chrome.

However, many of the apps in the Web Store are simply links to great apps that are available to any modern browser. If you install these apps in Chrome, you’ll essentially just get a large bookmark icon to the webapp that you could have accessed by simply entering the app’s URL in your address bar. That’s not to say these apps aren’t exciting; in fact, many of them are some of the best webapps available today. With that in mind, we’ve looked through the Web Store for the best apps that aren’t unique to Chrome. Here’s the best we’ve found, and please let us know your favorites or any we’ve missed in the comments below!

Todo.ly

Todo.ly

Todo.ly

Need to keep up with everything you need to do? Todo.ly is a great online to-do list and task manager that lets you add everything you need to do, organize your tasks into lists, and make sure you can quickly find what you need to do next.

HootSuite

HootSuite

Hootsuite

HootSuite helps you keep track of all your social networks and manage your company’s social interaction from one app. You can monitor all of your social network feeds, see anytime your company is mentioned, and even schedule status updates to autopost when you’re away. Best of all, you can add multiple users to the account so your whole team can work together with your company’s networks.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Springpad

Springpad

Springpad

There’s more stuff everyday that you need to keep up with, and browser bookmarks don’t cut it. Springpad is a beautiful online notebook that’s great for clipping recipes, movie details, and to-do lists. You can then organize everything you clip into notebooks and customize your own dashboard to make it fun and easy to find notes.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Pixlr Editor

Pixlr Editor

Pixlr Editor

While Photoshop has been a crucial part of computer graphics design over the past decade, today there are many online editors that can easily handle many of the tasks you’ve needed Photoshop for in the past. Pixlr Editor gives you an amazing amount of tools to edit photos and create graphics in your browser. With a familiar interface and support for PSD files, it’s easy to get the edits you need done quickly.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
SlideRocket

SlideRocket

SlideRocket

Why use a program originally designed for making transparencies to make your presentations in the 21st century? SlideRocket takes presentations to the next level with stunning templates, advanced animation, and an HTML5 mode that lets you show presentations on iOS devices.

  • Price: Free basic account; pro accounts available
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
DropMocks

DropMocks

DropMocks

DropMocks is how sharing photos should work. Just drag and drop your photos into your browser, and seconds later you’ll have a short URL to share your picture gallery with the world. There’s no step 3.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
deviantART muro

deviantART muro

deviantART muro

deviantART muro is one of the most impressive webapps of the year. It’s an advanced HTML5 painting app that lets you use a wide variety of brushes and create amazing art right in your browser. It even supports Wacom tablets for touch input! Who says you can’t take advantage of all your computer’s hardware with an HTML5 webapp?

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Kodingen

Kodingen

Kodingen

Doesn’t it seem backwards to fire up a code editor on your desktop to edit your webapp? Kodingen lets you switch your development to the cloud, too. Code in your favorite language from your browser, then add images and more to the project and edit them with your favorite webapps, too.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Autodesk Homestyler

Autodesk Homestyler

Autodesk Homestyler

Autodesk Homestyler lets you design your dream home or remodeled room with a simplified version of Audodesk’s tools. Sketch your room or choose an existing layout, then add popular furniture and appliances, rearrange to tryout different ways to decorate your home, and get feedback from your family and friends.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Bible from YouVersion

Bible from YouVersion

Bible from YouVersion

One of the most popular free apps for iOS, YouVersion’s Bible app lets you study the Bible in over 44 translations and 22 languages on your mobile device or in Chrome. The Bible app is fast and uses a clean interface to help you focus on the text and quickly share favorite passages with others.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Zootool

Zootool

ZooTool

Traditional bookmarks are boring, with just plain text and links. Zootool turns that around and makes bookmarking a graphical experience. You can quickly save your favorite images you find online or save snapshots of your favorite sites. Whenever you need to find something to inspire you, just head over to Zootool to see what’s popular or rediscover something you’ve clipped before.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Mint

Mint

Mint

Mint is one of the most popular online finance apps, and it has continued to be one of the simplest ways to keep up with all your financial accounts and expenses. It automatically records your most recent expenses and categorizes them, so you’ll get an overview of where your money’s going without wasting time typing in transactions.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Aviary

Aviary

Aviary

Aviary has an impressive suite of multimedia webapps, but most of their apps are flash powered. Their latest app, however, is a full HTML5 photo editor that’s very impressive. It includes less features than many other photo editors, but is very quick and smooth to use. That said, don’t forget to check out the rest of the Aviary apps in the Web Store, too.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Scribble

Scribble

Scribble

One of the most exciting trends is webapps that actually act like a natively installed app. Scribble is an HTML5 powered sticky notes app that lets you quickly jot down ideas and save them natively in your browser. It works great on Chrome, but most excitingly is also works great on any modern browser. We really hope to see more apps that work like this going forward.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Sketchpad

Sketchpad

Sketchpad

Sketchpad is a really exciting online sketching app that includes many tools you’re used to in desktop creative programs. The wide variety of brushes, stamps, and color combinations let you make very unique creations. Best of all, this is one of the first new apps I discovered fully through the Chrome Web Store; this is one of the best potentials of the Web Store, and we hope many will discover new webapps this way.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
TurboTax

TurboTax

TurboTax

Tax season is coming up, and like it or not, many of us are going to have to fill out tax forms yet again. TurboTax is one of the most popular programs for filing taxes, and their webapp is now in the Chrome Web Store too. You can fill out and file your taxes all from the same app, so even if you hate doing your taxes, this should make it somewhat easier.

  • Price: Free basic plan, plus pro accounts
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Simplenote

Simplenote

Simplenote

Simplenote is a popular iOS notetaking app, and it works great from the web in Chrome or other browsers as well. Rather than trying to add every bell and whistle, it just makes taking text notes simple and quick. Plus, you can sync your notes to your iOS device, so it’s a great way to copy a large amount of text onto your iPhone.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Seesmic

Seesmic

Seesmic Web

Seesmic is one of the most popular desktop Twitter and Facebook apps, and their webapp brings most of your favorite Seesmic features to Chrome. Easily interact with multiple Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts, while using up less ram than the native Air or Silverlight clients.

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
Launchlist

Launchlist

Launchlist

Are you ready to launch your new website or app? Are you sure? Launchlist makes it easy to keep track of all the things that are easy to miss when launching a new site. Make sure your launch doesn’t turn out to be a bust, all from yet another awesome webapp.

  • Price: Free basic account; pro accounts avilable
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App
20 Things I Learned About Browsers & the Web

20 Things I Learned About Browsers & the Web

20 Things I Learned About Browsers & the Web

20 Things I Learned About Browsers & the Web is the coolest webapp we’ve played with recently. No, you can’t create anything new with it, and much of the info in the book is old news for anyone who lives and breathes webapps, but the way the book interface itself works is extremely exciting to see. This definitely sets the standards for web-based eBooks going forward, and, Hey Google, you should really update all of Google Books to work like this!

  • Price: Free
  • Requires: Chrome; runs in any modern browser
  • Install App

Now it’s your turn!

Ok, we’ve shared our favorite webapps from the Web Store, so now it’s your turn. What new apps or old favorites have you discovered? Do you prefer adding them as apps in Chrome, or are traditional bookmarks enough for you? Sound off in the comments and let us know! And don’t forget to try out some of the apps above!

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