The Chrome App Launcher is an easy shortcut to all your Chrome apps
You’ve probably heard talk about Chrome desktop apps. It’s something Google is trying that allows some Chrome apps or extensions to be used stand-alone in their own sandbox that run like any other desktop application would. The jury is still out on how effective or popular this will be, but it’s something worth having a look at if you’re a Chrome user on any platform.
To facilitate things — running stand-alone apps, but having to launch them from the browser defeats the purpose — Google has made the Chrome App Launcher available. On a Windows computer we can find it in the system tray, but on the Mac it will plop itself right into your dock. Once there, you can treat it like any other dock shortcut. You can dismiss it if you hate it, or set it to open automagically at login if you love it. Move it around, mistreat and abuse it. Just like any other app shortcut.
When you click on it, you’ll see a list of all your chrome apps. Some of them, like Google play or Google+ will open in a regular browser window. Others, like Keep or Pocket, will open in their own window that can be minimized.
Getting things set-up is easy enough. Just point your Chrome browser at the “For your desktop” collection in the Chrome Web Store, and installing any of the apps will place the launcher in your dock. From there, it’s all up to you.
Source: Google