Howto: Snapchat and other android apps on Mint

[galaxies]

I did not see a thread about this, and thought perhaps other people might enjoy using snapchat with their webcams as I am, on my Mint 16 KDE (Kernel 3.11 x64) laptop. Many other apps work as well and it was suprisingly easy to set-up. Check the official github page for more info and further instructions if needed.


1. Requires Google Chrome 37. Choose the 'Ubuntu' .deb in either 32 or 64 bit, then open the .debi with gdebi and install.

2. Install node package manager, if you do not have it already:

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$ sudo aptitude install npm

3. On my system, there was no /usr/bin/node directory. This caused issues (/usr/bin/env node not found), and i needed to link /usr/bin/nodejs in its place. Check if you have a /usr/bin/node directory, and if not:

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$ ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node

4. Install the chromeos-apk tool:

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$ npm install -g chromeos-apk@latest

5. Download the neccessary runtime. Extract ensuring you do so into a subfolder.

6. Now you'll need to launch google chrome, go to settings, go to extensions, select developer mode, select "load unpacked extension", and choose the subfolder you extracted the runtime to.

7. You should see ARChon Custom Runtime listed, ensure the "enabled" box is checked. Warnings will be listed.

8. Load a test .apk, by extracting the zip file to subfolder, then selecting that subfolder with "load unpacked extension" again. This time, select "launch" below the extension. You should be greeted with the app.


To run any .apk of your choice:

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$ chromeos-apk foobarapp.apk --archon

You may be prompted for the name of the app. If so, enter app's filename without .apk extension. It may give you warnings.
In chrome, go to settings, then extensions, select "load unpacked extension", and choose the directory generated by chromeos-apk.
Click launch when listed in the extensions list.


I chose to install the "Chrome Apps & Extensions Developer Tool" by clicking "get more extensions" at the bottom of the list, and searching for it. This extension enables chrome-apps to run individually and provides a handy folder in my KDE-Menu with Instagram, Snapchat, etc, all listed, and can just click to launch them from there, without ever needing to use the actual chrome browser. So consider that as well!

[Kevinfallas01]

sorry for taking this thread out of the grave, but im not able to load snapchat, i got everything working, i can load the test app but dont know how to install snapchat

[royal_Panic]

When I do Step 6, I am greeted with:

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Failed to load extension
File
~/Documents/archon
Error
Manifest file is missing or unreadable
Could not load manifest.