Google brings Chrome, Drive to Apple's App Store

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) revealed that its signature browser, Chrome, and document storage system, Drive, would be available on devices running Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS. 

Chrome comes to iOS.

During Google I/O, the company's annual developer-focused conference, Google Vice President of Chrome Brian Rakowski announced that the Chrome app will be available for devices running iOS 4.3 or higher. As of Friday morning, Chrome already tops Apple's App Store rankings of the iOS platform's most popular free apps.

Google released Chrome for Android devices in February, and in April, released a revised version for tablets running Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich. On Wednesday, Google also revealed that the Nexus 7 would be the first device to ship with Android as its default browser.

As with Chrome for Android, the app offers syncing with a user's tabs and bookmarks from the desktop or another device. Users also have the option to go incognito and not have their device record the current session's search history.

Due to restrictions set by Apple, users cannot set Chrome or any other third-party browser as the default Web browser. Clicking a link in another application or email client will thus lead the user to Safari. In addition, Chrome for iOS does not have access to Mobile Safari's Nitro JavaScript engine, making the browser run slower than the Android equivalent.

Chrome's expansion to iOS is interesting, in part, due to Apple and Google's recent slights against one another. Apple's new iOS 6 dumps Google Maps for its own in-house mapping software. Shortly after, Google released a revamped version of Google Maps with offline access, available only to Android users. When Apple device users are upgraded to iOS 6 this fall, Google stands to lose up to one-third of its mobile users according to a report from research firm Analysys Mason.

For more:
- see this PC Mag article
- see this Wired article

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