Re: Web Install Meeting

Hi Christian,

Thank you very much for sharing the minutes of this meeting, and your
summary of the outcomes. I look forward to hearing more as the discussion
progresses.

In the meantime I hope you don't mind if I share another perspective as a
smaller implementer, who no longer works for one of the big browser
vendors, but still has a commercial interest in the outcome of this
discussion.

Firstly, I'm very glad to see this topic get some serious cross-vendor
discussion because I think getting this right could be really good for the
web.

However, I have reservations about the solutions currently being considered:

   - The beforeinstallprompt event is a confusing and unpredictable API
   which is also likely to lead to nagging popups, banners or install buttons
   inside web apps
   - The navigator.install() method is more explicit and predictable, but
   similarly risks littering the web with popups, banners and install buttons
   - The <install> element is a clever declarative solution, but again
   risks littering the web with install buttons and is problematic for some
   classes of applications.

My main concern is that the web is already plagued with interruptions like
ads, paywalls and cookie consent banners and moving the web app install UI
inside the viewport under developer control would just add to the noise –
further eroding the experience of web apps compared with native apps.

In my view the web already has a declarative solution for a web page to
point to a web app that can be installed, and that is a Web Application
Manifest <https://www.w3.org/TR/appmanifest/> linked using a manifest link
relation
<https://www.w3.org/TR/appmanifest/#using-a-link-element-to-link-to-a-manifest>
in a link element. I think the best solution to this problem is through UI
design, not API design.

In my opinion, the user interface for installing web apps should be
trusted, consistent, easy to discover, but keep out of the way when it
isn’t needed. I think an "ambient badging" approach is the best way to
achieve this, with browsers visibly but subtly surfacing trusted
browser-native UI for installing web apps, which are treated as first class
citizens on operating systems.

I've quickly put together a blog post
<https://tola.me.uk/blog/2026/02/12/how-i-think-web-apps-should-be-installed/>
which goes into more detail around pros and cons of the solutions currently
being considered, proposes an alternative solution with an example
implementation, but also acknowledges the hurdles that would have to be
overcome for this to become a reality.

Kind regards

Ben



On Wed, 11 Feb 2026 at 21:08, Christian Liebel <
christian.liebel@thinktecture.com> wrote:

> This is to inform the WebApps Working Group that the Web Application
> Manifest editors met with representatives from Apple, Google, Microsoft,
> and Mozilla to discuss APIs to allow developers to programmatically open
> install dialogs for web sites. Web sites are already installable across all
> major engines and operating systems. The goal of this effort is to enable
> developers to advertise installation more prominently from within their
> viewport.
>
> Here are the meeting minutes:
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/16OTq60o7pJMlQeO0KwuxzlMljsBZrt30LzpswQiP5Ko/edit
>
> Summary:
>
>
>    - The meeting participants decided to split the conversation between
>    installing the "current app," and installing "some app."
>    - The meeting participants favored the existing beforeinstallprompt event
>    for solving the "current app" use case. There is a draft PR to re-introduce
>    this event to the Manifest specification (
>    https://github.com/w3c/manifest/pull/1206). Gecko and WebKit
>    representatives have been asked to clarify their formal positions on
>    supporting beforeinstallprompt (pending).
>    - Regarding "some app" installation, vendors are asked to clarify
>    which install use-cases (same-origin, eTLD+1, cross-origin) they would be
>    willing to support (pending).
>    - The Manifest editors will schedule a follow-up meeting with the
>    participants in March.
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Christian
>


-- 
Ben Francis
Founder
Krellian Ltd. <https://krellian.com>