Progressive Web Apps are pretty great. They can be installed to your computer, send push notifications, run offline, and more — while still being isolated from the rest of your computer/phone/tablet. Thankfully, Google is now making it more obvious when apps can be installed to your device.
Right now, if Chrome detects a site is a Progressive Web App, it will add an Install button to the overflow (three dots) menu. This doesn’t do a great job of telling users they can install the current app to their device, since there is no visual indicator anywhere.
Chrome Canary v75 has a new “Desktop PWAs installable from Omnibox” flag, which is already enabled by default. It adds a small Install button to the right side of the address bar, and otherwise works the same as the Install option in the overflow menu.
This is a lot better than the current desktop behavior, and only appears when a site is a Progressive Web App (with a valid manifest file), so users probably won’t see it too often. The relevant issue tracker says the feature is scheduled to be included in Chrome 75.
- Source:
- TechDows
- Via:
- Chrome Unboxed