Chrome web apps

Question

Is it currently possible to create a chrome web app that can run in the background, even when the chrome process isn't running and pop up notifications to the users desktop? Say for an email app it gives notification when a new email arrives.

Answer 1

That sounds more like an extension... There are already extensions doing exactly that!

Answer 2

As of Chrome 10, it's possible to create installable web apps that do this (both for hosted apps as well as packaged apps). You can find documentation and sample code here.

Answer 3

If you are looking for how to run scripts in the background just put this into your manifest file:

"app": {
    "background": {
        "scripts": ["background.js"]
    }
},