Re: [w3c/manifest] Add `navigator.install()` (PR #1175)

christianliebel left a comment (w3c/manifest#1175)

@benfrancis This is all in flux. Drafting this first specification text was just my initiative to have a basis for discussion. No vendor has committed to implementing this.

> I'm fascinated to see how this pans out given we now seem to have gone full circle from [`navigator.mozApps.install()`](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/02/getting-started-with-open-web-apps-why-and-how/) in ~2012, and in the intervening time browser vendors have gone to great lengths (installability criteria, install prompts etc.) to avoid doing this.

Wow, interesting historical insights. I only joined this effort in 2018…

> Is the intention still to eventually [require that a manifest contains an id member](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19dad0LnqdvEhK-3GmSaffSGHYLeM0kHQ_v4ZRNBFgWM/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.2ex5jpno4wi8) in order for installation to succeed?

This is up to the Working Group to decide. Safari has traditionally allowed the installation of all websites regardless of any preconditions. This would also suggest `navigator.install(documentURL)` so a linked manifest can be loaded, or the default manifest can be created for the document at the given URL. As a web developer, it would be great to have a single way to trigger the installation of an app, regardless of the platform.

> If navigator.install() only works if the document links to a valid web app manifest, does this not further reinforce the idea that https://github.com/w3c/manifest/issues/1168 (contrary to the https://github.com/w3c/manifest/pull/1163)?

(see above)

> Are we OK with the idea that this will cause the web to be littered with install buttons (which as I understand it is the reason browser vendors have avoided doing this so far)?

We already have `beforeinstallprompt` in Chromium-based browsers (see the related discussion in https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/issues/1055) to do this, and haven't seen a larger littering of install buttons yet.

> I think on balance my advice (in the capacity of an Invited Expert) would be to _not_ add this feature to the web platform, but to instead focus on how to improve the user interface that user agents provide to install web apps.

The idea of the [Web Install API](https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/main/WebInstall/explainer.md) would be to allow same-origin installations as well, e.g. _example.com_ could suggest to install _example.com/docs_ or _example.com/sheets_. Same-origin installs also have TAG approval. I think improving the install UX is an orthogonal effort.

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