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

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

Thank you to everyone who's weighed in on this so far.

I'm one of the independent developers whose feedback was cited [earlier in this thread](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/1245#issuecomment-4986273157).

I'd like to push back (again) at the conclusion that low installation rates signify low interest in PWA installation. My contention is that engagement with web apps is low, in part, due to low public awareness of what web apps even are, due in large part to the fact that today's installation flows are severely lacking. The option to install is often so buried that users simply haven't been exposed to the concept.

In browsers like WebKit-based Safari, the installation process is so obscure that, out of all the users who may be interested in installing a web app, only a tiny percentage will ever realize that option is available to them. Further, only a tiny percentage of those who have made up their mind to install a web app will make it through the complicated, often-changing interactions required to do so.

As @marcoscaceres stated:

> Webkit's position is: users who want to install an app can just use the browser's UI.

This stance might make sense if the browser UI in question did not require more interactions to install a web app than any other browser available today. At the time I created [this PWA-installation guide](https://hunterirving.github.io/web_workshop/pages/pwa), 6 steps were required to install a web app on iOS. That number now appears to be 5. While a decrease in friction is appreciated, this illustrates the fact that developer-created installation guides will never keep up with changing browser and OS-level UIs, leading to poor outcomes for those users who *do* want to install and use web apps.

In informal user testing, I've sat right next to users whose explicit goal was to install our web app to their homescreen. Even with a link to the required installation steps, most users struggled immensely. Overprotecting users who may not want to install web apps directly harms the users who do.

A clear, standardized way to install web apps without relying on varied browser interfaces is critical to the adoption and success of web apps as a concept.

To quote @marcoscaceres again:

> Adding install capability shifts how developers funnel users into their apps, which changes how apps are designed.

Yes, adding install capability would change how apps are designed... in a good way! More developers would be encouraged to spend time developing web apps if their users had a viable installation path. Public awareness of web apps would grow, usage of web apps would increase, and users would have increased choice and freedom in how they receive and use software.

Now how could anyone object to that..? :-)

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