With both my selfhosted applications and some web applications, I like to have them in a completely separate window and process. Sometimes it’s for convenience so I don’t accidentally close a tab, sometimes it is to keep information siloed. And it’s nice to have system integration and all that.
I used to use Chrome (before it started to get creepy about what data it was sending to Google, then I moved to Chromium), because you could use a command line argument to quickly get a web-app mode like this:
chromium --app="https://ideatrash.net"
But really, I like Firefox’s style better…for the most part. (Insert complaints about bundling AI into the browser here; we’re getting to that.) So when…
With both my selfhosted applications and some web applications, I like to have them in a completely separate window and process. Sometimes it’s for convenience so I don’t accidentally close a tab, sometimes it is to keep information siloed. And it’s nice to have system integration and all that.
I used to use Chrome (before it started to get creepy about what data it was sending to Google, then I moved to Chromium), because you could use a command line argument to quickly get a web-app mode like this:
chromium --app="https://ideatrash.net"
But really, I like Firefox’s style better…for the most part. (Insert complaints about bundling AI into the browser here; we’re getting to that.) So when I learned about the PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) for Firefox project, I was thrilled.
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are web apps that use web APIs and features along with progressive enhancement strategy to bring a native app-like user experience to cross-platform web applications. Although Firefox supports many of Progressive Web App APIs, it does not support functionality to install them as a standalone system app with an app-like experience. This functionality is often also known as a Site Specific Browser (SSB).
It is a cross-platform solution that works on a bunch of different operating systems (including Windows) and despite the extensive instructions, installation was simple. I installed the extension, followed the in-browser prompts, and quickly had it in my toolbar.
Note: It is currently saying the extension is outdated, even though it’s up-to-date; but it works just fine. The one setting that I found most important to change was to have it display the address bar widget (it looks like a monitor with a down arrow in the image below) to Always.
After that, you visit the site you want to make an app for, click that widget, and it will present you with a popup to do exactly that. In most cases, you do not have to fill in anything, just go with the defaults. The profiles that are created are all in its user data directory. You can make one apiece like it suggests, or group them by whatever scheme makes sense to you.
Okay, there is one drawback — it uses stock Firefox, which has the aforementioned AI crap shoved in and turned on by default. That’s where Betterfox comes in to easily solve things.
about:config tweaks to enhance Mozilla Firefox. Made for everyday browsing
Faster, more private and secure — without using third-party code.
I already used Betterfox with my main browser profile, so I’d already downloaded it, and hadn’t needed to tweak it. Once you’ve got that file, the hardest part is simply finding where to put it.
Go to the user data directory that PWAsforfirefox uses, go to the profiles directory/folder in there and see the profiles you’ve created, and just copy that user.js file into each profile directory. Restart your webapp, and… bosh, done.
(While PWAsforFirefox does copy settings from the Default profile once created, that does not seem to include the user.js file, which is why you need to do that manually.)