And while Chrome OS eventually allowed for sideloading APKs like you could on Android phones, it was designed only for developers and Chromebooks running in Developer Mode.

If you want to go beyond the basic capabilities of your Chromebook, though, you’ll have to enable Chrome OS Developer Mode. This post will explain exactly how to do that, and what to be aware of.

Unfortunately, the only way to do this on Chrome OS is by enabling Developer Mode, which requires wiping the device and potentially voiding your warranty.

In order to do that you need to enable Developer Mode on your Chromebook though, which removes some of the security protections that you normally get with Chrome OS.

Google’s Chrome OS is designed to be a relatively secure, simple operating system that’s easy to use and hard to mess up. But you can run stable channel, beta channel, or dev channel software ...

For instance, you can use Developer Mode to install an entirely new OS on your Chromebook. Perhaps the most popular use for Developer Mode is for sideloading Android apps.

Just because it can install Android apps doesn't make Chromebooks Android devices. For one, Android behavior and performance on Chrome OS still leave much to be desired. For another, sideloading ...

Chromebooks will let developers more easily sideload Android apps with Chrome OS 80 It’s primarily for devs — but doesn’t require developer mode ...

While the Acer Chromebook R11 and the 2015 Chromebook Pixel are on Chrome OS 53, the Play Store is not yet visible in the app launcher, nor is there an option in settings to enable Android apps.