Google does a similar thing with Chrome and the Hangouts extension[0].
They have two APIs that are available behind a flag or in a dev branch. Panels[1], the always-on-top type windows Hangouts uses, and the notification area icon[2].
Google hardcodes Hangout's extension id in Chromium to allow it to use these features before they're available to the public.[3]
They have two APIs that are available behind a flag or in a dev branch. Panels[1], the always-on-top type windows Hangouts uses, and the notification area icon[2].
Google hardcodes Hangout's extension id in Chromium to allow it to use these features before they're available to the public.[3]
[0]https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hangouts/nckgahada...
[1] http://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/extensio...
[2] https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=142450
[3] https://code.google.com/p/chromium/codesearch#chromium/src/c...