Does anyone know where we are with the PWA manifest id property?
The reason I ask is that it doesn’t seem to be working, at least not in the way I expected and hoped.
My understanding is that you should be able to have two URLS like this:
https://example.com/fruits/orange with manifest: start_url: /fruits/orange, scope: /fruits/, id: /fruits/orange
https://example.com/fruits/banana with manifest: start_url: /fruits/banana, scope: /fruits/, id: /fruits/banana
The values for id are as recommended by Dev Tools>Application>App manifest>Computed app ID. Quotation marks omitted for clarity.
Then what I think should happen according to https://chromestatus.com/feature/6064014410907648 is that, when the Orange URL reaches the browser and the browser looks at its manifest, it sees id: fruits/orange and says “I don’t know this PWA, let’s ask if they want install it”. Later, when the Banana URL reaches the browser and it looks at that manifest, it sees id: fruits/banana and says “I don’t know that PWA either, let’s ask if they want install it too”. That way I get two icons on my phone – one for Orange and one for Banana.
What I actually see happening depends very much on OS and browser:
Android 10 - Chrome 103: The Orange URL installs as a PWA perfectly. Chrome asks if you want to install it and, when you do, you get an icon on your phone and it’s there in your app folder. But when you submit the Banana URL you are not asked if you want to install it. However it does open Banana in the PWA.
Android 10 - Edge 103, Firefox 102, Opera 70: There is no invitation to install but Add to phone in the menu installs separate icons for Orange and Banana. When you open them, they look like PWAs with information about their respective fruits and with no sign of the browser but they aren’t in the app folder. Nevertheless the result is what I want and much better than Chrome.
Windows 11 - Chrome 103, Edge 103: Behave like Android Chrome.
Windows 11 - Firefox, Opera: Don’t seem to know anything about PWAs!
Frankly I’m not too bothered about desktop PWAs and all browsers except Chrome work well enough on phones but it would be really, really good if Android Chrome behaved itself too.
Back in Nov 2021 support for the id property was announced as being in Chrome 96. At about the same time it was stated that “Support for mobile should land in the first half of 2022”. OK, it’s only September but does anyone know a) will there be support for id in Android Chrome, and b) why doesn’t it appear to work in Windows Chrome 103?
Or am I misunderstanding the whole concept?