FT launching web app for Android

The Financial Times is beta launching its flagship web application on Chrome for Android at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco this week.

Users with devices running the latest version of Android can simply visit http://app.ft.com in their Chrome browser to try it out.

The FT is attending Google I/O via FT Labs, the web and application development company they acquired in January 2012. FT representatives will be showcasing the FT web app on Chrome for Android devices throughout the event.

“The FT has worked closely with Google to ensure our Web App works seamlessly on Chrome for Android,” said FT.com group product manager Steve Pinches in a statement. “As the only major publisher with a web app built using HTML5 technology, we can offer customers the choice of using either our highly successful native app for Android or our new Chrome browser app, both of which are based on the same core technology.

“This is just the first step: we aim to launch the app on Chrome for desktop soon and ultimately on all modern web browsers. This will give our users full access to the FT on all their devices even when offline, something that is hugely important to our highly mobile audience.”

Since its launch in June, the FT web app has had more than 2.5 million downloads and has significantly boosted mobile, which now drives 12 percent of subscriptions and 19 percent of traffic to FT.com.