Menu
I just updated to Android O Preview and installed a few PWAs. On the home screen a miniature Chrome logo is placed by the icon. This wasn't there before the OS update.
Ideally, I would like the PWA to look like a regular app on the home screen considering it has service workers enabled.
Is it possible to remove this with some settings in the app.yaml or manifest.json?
597
You can use Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) for a fast web experience on your computer or mobile device. You can install the PWA for faster access and additional functionality, like more storage for content to use offline.
Open the menu next to the URL bar. Depending on whether you're using Chrome or Android you'll see a menu option "Install" or "Install App". This is the "Add to Home screen" option displayed for any site that has the necessary features in place.
Right-click the PWA from among the list of apps, and then click Remove From Chrome. Click Remove to confirm. After that, check the box next to Also Clear Data From Chrome if you want to remove the browser cache of the PWA. Tip: The Apps Launcher also provides the means to add deleted PWA icons back to the desktop.
Open the PWA app that you want to remove, and then click the three-dotted icon to the upper-right corner of the screen. On the menu that shows up, click Uninstall 'app name.' Then, you will come across a confirmation prompt. Check the box next to Also Clear Data From Chrome if you want to remove browsing data and cookies related to the PWA app.
Despite running on a Chrome wrapper, PWAs give off the impression of functioning just like any other application. They feature their icons within the desktop, completely do away with the Chrome address bar and tabs, and allow for a fully immersive experience. Chrome provides multiple ways to install and uninstall PWAs on Windows and macOS.
N ote: If you don't check the box next to Open As Window, the shortcut that you create will not open in a dedicated Chrome window. Although PWAs are ‘installed’ on your PC or Mac, they aren’t fully integrated into the operating system.
Above answer is not accurate except for the part that Chrome had the issue of adding Chrome badge to App icon, which is changed in the following updates.
Before getting into whats wrong, here is how web apps are added to home screen.
1) As a simple shortcut(like a bookmark), when the users web browser don't have service worker support(which all recent versions of major browsers have support now), targeted web URL don't have a valid manifest.json and service worker files configured(this can be validated in Application-> Manifest and Service worker tabs in chrome developer tools). In this case, what is added to home screen is not an APK and the bookmark kind of shortcut was represented by a specific version of Chrome with a badge.
2) As an installed APK: When the targeted URL have a valid Manifest.json, service workers and one of supported Chrome version is used, Chrome for Android uses WebAPK to build and sign an .APK file with the package name starting "org.chromium.webapk". Read here for more details on apk generation and PWA distribution here.
Whats not accurate in the above answer/linked article,
1) The chrome badge is not a security measure. Chrome team added the badge for web apps created as bookmark/URL shortcut as it was not using WebApk in some particular version. Badge is a simple visual representation which was later withdrawn.
2) PWA is not abandoned in favor of WebApk. WebApk is part of PWA solution, which compliments PWA by building an installable APK file to get the native app like behavior. WebApk is used to build .apk files by Chrome for Android. Here is official read me file.
So if you are building a PWA, you can still be assured you are not left behind in outdated/abandoned/being abandoned technology. Its still a constantly progressing positively, which got iOS support for service worker in march-2018(iOS 11.3), making it the last major browser vendor aboard PWA game.
71
Note that if the phone doesn’t have a google play account enabled then all pwa will be installed as a bookmark only. This happened to us using a new phone to test our pwa
29
This is simple security measure as the PWA is literary opening the browser window and small icon signalizes which browser is used:
Starting with Android Oreo, every shortcut added from Chrome (and potentially other browsers as well, but they are not working now) will have a Chrome badge at the lower right corner of the icon.
Anyway, PWA seems to be abandoned as the new WebAPK feature is significantly more powerful and actually, supports normal icons
With WebAPK enabled, icons are back to normal as we were used in Android before Oreo
Source for quotes: https://medium.com/@firt/android-oreo-takes-a-bite-out-of-progressive-web-apps-30b7e854648f
32
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
