Re: [w3c/manifest] beforeinstallprompt : Prompting user makes it to hard to discern whether the user truly wanted to "install" a web app (#835)

> I don’t follow. `beforeinstallprompt` is literally about showing UI to install a web app. Not about indicating the existence of some other app.

@rniwa, I think there's something important missing from your statement above, which is:

*"`beforeinstallprompt` is literally about showing UI to install a web app `<ins>`**at exactly the moment the app developer deems the right moment**`</ins>`".*

 Having this event allows for enabling experiences like Microsoft showed with their [`<pwa-install>`](https://github.com/pwa-builder/pwa-install) custom element that now has to take a special [code path](https://github.com/pwa-builder/pwa-install/blob/463a8af46027bee16c518de8ca2eab1b3368bd20/src/pwa-install.ts#L505-L506) for dealing with iOS. The event, by the way, also allows developers to *prevent* the browser prompt and app-level *install* buttons from showing at all, whereas Smart App Banners always show (either with the "View" or the "Open" label). As an iOS user myself, this gets tiring really quickly, especially since it causes a content jump. 

A prompt can also be non-intrusive, as [Samsung Internet has shown](https://medium.com/samsung-internet-dev/introducing-progressive-web-apps-to-samsung-galaxy-store-47ecd317725b) (the down arrow in the URL bar):

![Samung Internet down arrow PWA install](https://miro.medium.com/max/1079/1*uY2HhAt63MJ9KQOBalCVBw.jpeg)

In my understanding, the `onbeforeinstallevent` was introduced to avoid bad experiences with annoying prompts to give developers control, allowing for [different install patterns](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/app-install-banners/promoting-install-mobile), with  [automatic browser promotion](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/app-install-banners/promoting-install-mobile#automatic_browser_promotion) being the poorest.

Concluding, if Safari showed a subtle badge like Samsung Internet that then entered the regular share sheet "Add to Home Screen" flow at the "Cancel"/"Add" state shown in the screenshot below and that respected the icons from the Web App Manifest (my related [WebKit bug](https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=183937)), this would put the user in full control and not annoy them.

![iOS Add to Home Screen flow](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1871052/30579710-ab28f756-9d11-11e7-8e37-61d5eed01022.png)

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Received on Thursday, 12 December 2019 07:45:45 UTC