Tech —

Android Google Search lets you use an app without installing it

Android app streaming runs off Google's servers, streams interactive video feed.

Google's latest mobile experiment lets you use an Android app without installing it. Google has launched a beta version of Android app streaming inside of Google search. Just search for something that gets a hit inside of a Google-indexed app, and you'll be given the option to "stream" the app right to your phone.

While most bigger tech companies have apps and websites, for smaller companies, the app is sometimes the only entry point for consumers. Streaming an app allows new customers to use the service without having to go through the hassle of downloading and installing the app.

Streamable apps show up in the Google Search results with a "Stream" label next to them. Tapping the link loads the app about as quickly as a webpage, and a bar at the bottom flags the app as "App streamed by Google (beta)." For now, Google says the feature is available to a "small group of partners, such as HotelTonight, Chimani, Daily Horoscope, or New York MTA Subway Map."

Google's help files say the feature is "similar to how videos are streamed on services like YouTube" and that "streamed apps are running on Google servers instead of your device." That probably means Google is rendering the app on a server and sending users a streaming video feed of the app. This is similar to how Android Auto works, except it's over the Internet instead of a USB cable. It's apparently pretty bandwidth intensive, since the help files note that "you can only stream apps over Wi-Fi."

We did notice a significant amount of input lag with the streaming app feature. Receiving video over the Internet, sending back touch input, and receiving updated video frames takes some time, and you can feel it when you start scrolling or quickly change scrolling directions. Scrolling panes don't "stick" to your finger the way they do with a native app. Scrolling is about the only time the lag is noticeable, though—if you're just tapping around, there isn't a huge difference, and animations happen rather smoothly.

Since the app runs on Google servers, Google notes that all your interactions with the app get sent to Google. Google says it also "may" store this data after you close the app; the data may then be associated with your Google Account.

The Hotel app I tried had a "Google sign in" button, and from there I was able to escape the app and get into a Web browser. A quick browser user agent lookup found that the remote device was running Android 4.4.4. It even displays the old, KitKat-style keyboard when you try to log in. Makes you wonder what other shenanigans could be performed on the remote device, especially when it's running such an old version of Android.

Channel Ars Technica