Re: [w3c/manifest] Remove the default value for start_url (#670)

> @mgiuca why will it not be installable in Chrome? What if I want the browser to show people the install banner to suggest them to put a link to my site on their homescreen, but make it "only" a link that opens in the browser, not an app without browser chrome?

This is a great question. Ultimately, it's a product decision: Chrome doesn't want to promote browser-tab sites for "installation" because we view that install banner as a privilege granted to apps that have put in some effort towards a true app-like experience. However, this is a single browser's individual product decision; another browser could promote all sites with a valid manifest as installable, for example.

So, to go back to the original question, how does a site developer opt *out* of receiving the PWA treatment? Well, it depends what you're trying to opt out of:

* If you're trying to opt out of being shown in a stand-alone window (you want to always be shown in a browser tab, even when installed), then you should use `"display: browser"`. That's literally what it means.
* If you're trying to opt out of being installable, there's no real way to do this. Even if a site has no service worker or manifest, a user agent can still add UI to install the app to home screen (and of course, many browsers, including Chrome, do have this UI for all sites). This is purely a user agent decision. This is a bit like asking, "how do I opt out of being bookmarkable?" --- you can't, and I don't think we should be providing ways for developers to opt out of such affordances.

Either way, the answer is not to give developers an opt-out mechanism of leaving `start_url` blank. So changing the default `start_url` should be fine.

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Received on Tuesday, 8 May 2018 03:35:42 UTC