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brochard
Making moves
Status: In review

Progressive Web apps are an important feature of a browser that Firefox is the only one missing.
For some, it can be the reason to switch to another browser.
In other cases like for the Steamdeck, it's what imposed the choice to only include Chrome in the SteamOS interface.
Other problem even for avid Firefox users, since I wanted Social apps on my pc I had to get them on the Microsoft Store which is an Edge PWA that opens every link in an Edge window, making me use this... other browser.

339 Comments
dhaval123
New member

I use Firefox for most of my browsing needs. I have to use Edge for PWAs, and I have 4 of them that I use daily!.

Its been over a year since this idea is in review. Please implement this.

Jeppie
Making moves

What's wrong with using just the normal site on the browser?

zanna
New member

@JeppieIt is like when my teacher doesn't make the youtube video fullscreen and says: what's wrong using it minimized?

It is simply that is fits better your needs.

dhaval123
New member

@JeppieThe web is moving toward PWAs. Firefox doesn't have an answer for Electron, but robust PWA support can be that answer.

Microsoft has dropped support for Teams on Linux and are moving strictly toward Teams web app. Google has always been about PWAs, if you think about it. Most of your day to day use websites can become PAWs with offline and notifications support!

Daseinn
Strollin' around

Hybrid Apps for the Web & WebGPU are the future, as adoption of features like those increases then PWA's will start seeing more & more uses open up

 

and more will be able to be accomplished through webview instead of full-blown apps. Instant apps on Android 

saluki
Strollin' around

This is one of those things you'd expect to be here already, but it isn't for some reason. +1

ikpjr
Making moves

PWAs would be useful even if their protocol is not implemented to full extent(e.g. not having offline ability). 

The ability to do lightweight browsing - starting a website in a single window - would have several benefits like reduced resource usage by loading separately from main session(s) window with many tabs. This would be like having detached pinned tabs on demand. Those could be launched from a "PWA" organizer app with a list of PWA(s) to be launched. This lightweight browsing could in alternative be enabled by some kind of separate browsing sessions mechanism.

While PWA's are mostly for specific websites like social, apps like email, calculators, tools and similar websites for which the user expects to accomplish tasks entirely within them without going to third-party sites but not impeding navigation to them, lightweight browsing in general would probably require a session mechanism.

In the desktop, tiling of such PWA windows would enable several tools to coexist side by side for efficient and focused accomplishing of tasks.

luciano_bestia
New member

If 227 comments are not enough, I will add another comment to say that this is important.

Tewan
New member

Lack of native PWA (not using an extension+helper workaround) is the main reason I've not jumped to Firefox. On a daily basis I use Fastmail and Lounge (Web IRC) as a web app. Without them being contained separately, they are very easy to lose in the stack of tabs I have open. I'd rather keep them separate, running in the background with an easily identifiable icon on my taskbar(Win) / dock(Mac) / home screen(iOS) that I can jump back to. Safari on macOS looks to be getting web app support now as well based on the WWDC keynote (~55min in).

After the Edge update forcing Bing integration with the hideous icon at the top right of the browser, I've been in the market for a new browser again and I'd prefer to get away Chromium but it still seems I'll be stuck there a bit longer.

barend_miner
Strollin' around

 

I would love to see this feature implemented in Firefox as well. Personally, the absence of PWA support in Firefox is the primary reason why I'm currently using Brave instead as it supports PWA while having many similar privacy features as Firefox.