Re: [manifest] Need to define how to apply the manifest (#226)

(just reading over this as I prepare to start work on manifest again... tl;dr: we are generally in agreement)

> For this use case the obvious time to apply the properties of the manifest would be at install time.

For the install use case, the appropriate time is when the application is (re)started - through the means by which the OS signals to the user that the application is installed. In the case of Android, iOS, and even FxOS, that is by adding the icon to the homescreen and then the user pressing that icon: Upon the user pressing on the icon, the manifest is applied prior to the page being navigated - the display mode is applied, as is the orientation, then the page is navigated (content is loaded).   

> The ability to apply the properties of a manifest without installation doesn't seem to be essential in order to fulfil the requirements [1] for this specification, but do people have strong uses cases for this capability? 

As we discussed in person, "progressive enhancement" was a miscommunication on my part (my apologies) - it was not to mean that the manifest would be progressively applied to the page. I was using it in the sense defined in [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_enhancement):

> "Progressive enhancement uses web technologies in a layered fashion that allows everyone to access the basic content and functionality of a web page, using any browser or Internet connection, while also providing an enhanced version of the page to those with more advanced browser software or greater bandwidth."

I primarily consider features to not be supported on the platform, so basically treat everything new we add to the platform as a polyfill (and hence a "progressive enhancement" where support is never guaranteed). In other words, in designing a feature, I just assume users are stuck on some old version of Firefox (or that other browser vendor simply decides they are not going to support this) and I imagine what the experience would be like for users. This is the reality with most standards, that even after 3-5 years those standards are not universally supported so some users are always missing out. 

Anyway, right now, "apply on restart after install". 


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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
https://github.com/w3c/manifest/issues/226#issuecomment-67104997