Re: [w3ctag/design-reviews] Question: Review manifest-first Web Install API (Issue #1245)

slightlyoff left a comment (w3ctag/design-reviews#1245)

I'm not sure anyone in the thread is confused about the difference between WebKit and Safari. You may be aware that we (Edge) maintain a WebKit-based iOS browser today, though we would vastly prefer to use a different engine there.

Putting iOS's forced engine monoculture and concomitant suppression of alternatives to Safari to the side for a moment, we can clearly say that may sites on the internet *do* prompt users to install applications, and that as partisans for the web (rather than proprietary native app platforms) we (Edge) would _prefer_ it if those prompts directed users to install their web applications instead.

As we have patiently re-explained, the counterfactual you've returned to is not reality, and when folks bring Smart Banners into frame, it isn't because they are confused about what's engine and what's browser -- instead, they're trying to get you to acknowledge what everyone else can see. Failing to reckon with that web-wide reality would be disingenuous, and indulging debates about a fully theoretical status-quo would neither help users or developers.

As for browser UIs that can offer these affordances, that's immaterial to the question being asked: are there changes that could make this capability fit better into the platform, given that there are browsers that will ship something along these lines?

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