Do More in Chrome Than Browse: 12 Free Fun Apps

What it does: Allows you to play the monster hit mobile game right in your Chrome browser

Why it's great: Angry Birds is the most popular mobile game in the world for a reason. The game makes playing a quick round or two in a free moment fun and easy. The Chrome app brings the same gameplay to your browser; and while the fast, addictive rounds of Angry Birds make it an ideal mobile game, it's also a great time waster for your office lunch break.

What it does: Lets you access Amazon's cloud reader in your browser.

Why it's great: Reading an entire book on your computer can strain your eyes--which is why e-readers were invented--but sometimes you do feel like doing a little reading on your computer. The best thing about Amazon's Kindle platform is that it keeps track of your library and your place in each book even across devices.

As a result, the Kindle Chrome app doesn't have to function exclusively as a dedicated reading device for an entire book. Its flexible approach makes it a great way to read a few more pages when you're away from your e-reader.

What it does: Allows you to edit audio in your browser.

Why it's great: Much like the impressive Pixlr photo-editing app, Aviary Audio Editor demonstrates the powerful capabilities of some Web apps. The app puts a multitrack audio editor right in your browser that's on a par with Apple's popular Garage Band software. You might not need to edit audio often, but it's good to know that all you really need to do the job is access to Chrome.

What it does: Lets you play a fun physics game AND electrocute zombies.

Why it's great: Zombie Drop is a physics puzzle that involves removing crates in the right order to drop a hapless zombie onto an electrified metal panel. Like all of the games on this list, it's great for short bursts of play; and as you advance through it, the game becomes fiendishly difficult.

What it does: Organizes your RSS Feed into an easy to read, magazine-like format.

Why it's great: There are a lot of great RSS reader apps, but Feedly stands out thanks to its readability and great design. The app will pull in your Google Reader preferences, sort them by popular and recent items, and then display them in a graphics-rich format that lets you preview, read, and then dismiss stories with ease.

What it does: Shows an accurate view of the night sky from any place and time on Earth.

Why it's great: Planetarium is perfect for stargazers who want to plot the locations of planets and constellations, but the app's beautiful interface makes it great for anyone who'd like to watch the clear (virtual) night sky but doesn't have easy access to the real thing. As long as you can open your browser, it's right there.

What it does: Lets you participate in a massive multiplayer game of limitless ersatz Scrabble

Why it's great: Word² combines the verbal gymnastics of a Scrabble-like game with a massive multiplayer experience. Now, instead of matching wits with a few friends, you're competing against thousands of other Word² players in a persistent word game that goes on forever in all directions. If playing word games with four players is fun, imagine how much fun it can be with 40,000.

What it does: Helps you find fun new recipes.

Why it's great: If you're stumped on what to eat, Gojee can help. Just feed the site a food or taste you're in the mood for, and the app will bring you a recipe and ingredient list for a dish that meets your specifications. The best thing about the app is its interface: Gojee offers large, appetizing pictures of the dishes in question, plus easy-to-export ingredient lists so that you can immediately start to make your meal.

What it does: Compares airfares from multiple airlines for your next trip.

Why it's great: An app providing cost comparisons of different airlines would be useful in itself, but Hipmunk sets itself apart with a great visual interface that lets you easily compare a flight's cost, length, and departure time. It even lets you sort flights by everything from arrival time to anticpated trauma due to long flights and multiple layovers.

What it does: Lets you stream music with ease.

Why it's great: It may not get name-checked as much as Spotify these days, but Pandora remains the best way to stream music on your computer quickly and with a minimum of fuss. Enter a song or artist that you want to hear into the Pandora Web app, and it will personalize a playlist based on your selection.

What it does: Turns your browser into a simple but addictive game.

Why it's great: In Sinuous, you move your mouse around, trying to dodge a flurry of red dots as they fly across the screen. That simple setup makes for a game that will keep you coming back again and again to compete for a place on the posted leaderboard.

What it does: Allows you to use Netflix's great Watch Instantly features in Chrome to stream thousands of movies and TV shows to your browser.

Why it's great: Netflix's instant watch service is one of the best entertainment platforms on the Web, but the video service didn't officially allow Chrome users to stream video until earlier this year--and though there were workarounds, the results were somewhat buggy and inconsistent.

That all changed when Netflix released a Chrome app that makes the service compatible with the browser and with Google's Chrome OS. Now you can stream all the instant watch video you want without switching to another browser.

Chrome Web Apps for Business