Saturday, August 20, 2011

Chromebook Google Talk Launcher Explained (Kind of)

About a month ago, I wondered aloud what the Google Talk Launch[er] app was or did.  Now, I believe I can confirm that the whole point of the app is to launch another program, now an extension, rather than an app, Google Talk . . .

The app launches the Google Talk extension.

Here's the extension.
Another screenshot I wish I had taken yesterday, at work, is that Google Talk is now a browser extension, which can load at startup (on at least XP), absent even opening Chrome.  The new extension appears to do what the native program does:  Allow users to chat, etc., outside of Gmail.

So far as I can tell, if I have uninstalled the Google Talk extension, or for whatever reason, if it's just missing, the Google Talk Launcher app will send me to the Google Talk extension page in the Chrome Web Store, where I can install it . . .

At the end of the day, I think I've still find the answer to the question, "Why?"  In other words, why have an app where all it does is lead me to the functionality of an extension.  So, while I feel a little more in the know than last month's post, I'm still grasping at straws for the logic behind all this.

2 comments:

Thomas Monopoly said...

i was wondering too but i think i've figured it out.

in order to run google talk outside of gmail on any computer, or video chat, you need to have the plugin installed. that's what the google talk launcher is. a better question is why is it shown? it should be hidden, but i think they want to encourage you to use it. the extension is a one size fits all extension for chrome, win, or mac. the could have written it all to make more sense. sort of a rube goldberg app as it is now...

Daniel said...

Thanks for the input, Thomas. I appreciate it.

When you say, "Why is it shown?" if you mean that question after the plugin is installed, then I share your confusion.