Re: [manifest] Integration with service workers (#161)

I haven't really been involved in this proposal so far, so I'm coming at this fresh, apologies if I'm retreading old ground.

# Uses

* If the added-to-home-screen site has a different instance of origin storage & ServiceWorkers, a declaration in the manifest means these storage instances can be populated by the SW at the time the user adds to home screen, rather than on first run. However, this would be better fixed by maintaining existing origin storage & SW. Losing/resetting data on adding-to-home-screen sounds like a bug
* The browser could provide a system to add sites to home screen without actually visiting them, eg a web app store. In this case it's desirable for a SW to set up before first visit. Also, the lifecycle of the SW can be used by the app store to indicate installation progress or signal failure
* The declarative SW form could be used by search engines to hint at app-like capability, although it's a very weak signal

# Cons

I'm assuming that the SW details in the manifest are only actually used on add-to-homescreen or similar, as in not during regular page load.

* Duplication. You'll still need registration in the page

The only usage that feels particularly strong to me is the 2nd one, enabling an install flow for app-store like things. Personally I'd love to see search engines provide this functionality. Given Mozilla has a web app store, is it something they're keen on?

---
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
https://github.com/w3c/manifest/issues/161#issuecomment-70072829