What's New in Progressive Web Apps
This page lists the updates to Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and Web Apps from the Microsoft Edge Web Apps team. To try new features, read these announcements. To stay up to date with the latest and greatest features, download the Microsoft Edge preview channels (Beta, Dev, and Canary).
What's New in Microsoft Edge 105
Microsoft Edge 105 brings the following new features for Progressive Web Apps.
Window Controls Overlay API
The Window Controls Overlay API is now available by default, starting with Microsoft Edge 105. Use the Window Controls Overlay API to take control of the area that would normally be used by the title bar of an installed PWA window. The PWA code can use this area to render arbitrary web content such as a custom title area, navigation buttons, or a menu bar.
This feature makes PWAs that are installed on desktop operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux, more similar to their native counterparts.
To learn more, check out these resources:
- Display content in the title bar.
- Closing a 30 pixel gap between native and web.
- Window Controls Overlay API on MDN.
Notifications from a PWA are now indicated as coming from the PWA
In earlier versions, the notifications that were created by PWAs looked like they were emitted by Microsoft Edge.
With Microsoft Edge 105, notifications from a PWA now display the name and icon of the PWA instead of displaying "Microsoft Edge":
What's New in Microsoft Edge 101
Microsoft Edge 101 introduces the sidebar search feature for PWAs. Sidebar search lets users of installed PWAs search for and browse web content in a sidebar located in the PWA window.
To access sidebar search:
Click the Open sidebar search button in the title bar of the installed PWA:
Type a search query, and then press
Enter. The search results are displayed, and you can go to a web page from there:
What's New in Microsoft Edge 100
Microsoft Edge Dev and Canary channels moved to version 100 on February 9, 2022. In this milestone, we're testing the following new web app features. We expect to see these new features rolling out to Stable following the testing period.
App Sync
The sync service that powers features including Favorites, Settings, History, and more has been expanded to include your installed web apps - that is, PWAs and websites installed as apps. The sync service works when you are signed in to your profile and have opted in to syncing.
As we test and gradually release this feature over the coming weeks, users who have opted in to sync will start to see a Your available apps section in the edge://apps page, and a redesigned Apps menu.
The Your available apps section
The Your available apps section will show any apps you've installed on other devices with the same signed-in profile, that aren't currently installed in the Microsoft Edge instance you're using. The available apps will be shown in their own section with gray icons. Click the Install button on an app to install the app on that device:
App sync is available on desktop devices only, at this stage. To keep your apps in sync across devices, adding an app on one device will add it to the Your available apps section on other devices. Uninstalling an app on one device will remove it from other devices.
Redesigned Apps menu
In Microsoft Edge, the Apps command in the Settings and more menu is being redesigned:
- The Apps menu icon can be added to the toolbar, for quick access.
- The popup menu can be pinned open as a sidebar to show your apps alongside web content.
- Customizable view and sort options have been added, along with a My available apps section to support the App Sync feature.
Users can show the Apps menu icon on the toolbar, for quick access:
Users can pin the Apps menu open as a sidebar:
Users can choose between a list or grid view:
Users can choose the sort order of their apps:
What's New in Microsoft Edge 97
Microsoft Edge version 96 is scheduled to become the Stable release on November 18, 2021. Microsoft Edge version 97 will move from Dev to Beta preview channel following that date.
Store apps registered as URL handlers hide custom tab UI
Store-installed PWAs that are participating in the URL Handler Origin Trial will no longer show the Chrome Custom Tab (CCT) when redirecting from the PWA's domain to a matching domain name with a different top-level domain (TLD). This redirecting often happens in apps with locale-specific domains; for example, redirecting from contoso.com to contoso.ca for users in Canada.
What's New in Microsoft Edge 96
URL Protocol Handlers moves to Stable
The origin trial has been concluded. The URL Protocol Handlers capability is now shipping in Microsoft Edge 96 Stable.
See also:
- Protocol handlers origin trial
- Handle protocols in Progressive Web Apps
- URL protocol handler registration for PWAs
New hub design for managing your installed web apps
Microsoft Edge Canary reached version 96 on October 5, 2021. With a subset of our users, we're testing a new design to better manage your installed web apps. When you go to edge://apps in your browser, it now displays a redesigned hub that lists installed PWAs and websites as apps.
Sort order
You can sort your apps by any of the following:
- Recently used.
- Alphabetically, based on title.
- Date of installation.
List view or grid view
You can arrange apps in a list or grid view, by using the View as dropdown list. In this image, Grid view is selected:
To zoom: right-click > Open image in new tab.
Pin apps, create shortcuts to apps, run app on login
You can easily pin apps to the taskbar or Start menu. You can create a shortcut, and enable apps to run on user login.
App details page
There's now an app details page, which provides way to easily access the following:
- Permissions and privacy details for the associated origin.
- More details about the application.
The app details page:
What's New in Microsoft Edge 95
Microsoft Edge version 95 moved to Beta channel on September 28, 2021. The origin trials remain active for the following features:
We expect the protocol handlers origin trial to end on October 21, 2021.
What's New in Microsoft Edge 94
Microsoft Edge version 94 moved to Stable on September 23, 2021. This release cycle was short—just 3 weeks from Microsoft Edge 93 Stable to Microsoft Edge 94 Stable, as we snapped to the new 4-week release cycle. This new release cadence matches the new cadence of Chromium milestones, described in Speeding up Chrome's release cycle.
Due to the shortened release cycle of Microsoft Edge version 94, we focused on stabilizing the release cycle logistics, and we shifted feature development to Microsoft Edge version 95.
The origin trials remain active for the following features:
We expect the protocol handlers origin trial to end with Microsoft Edge version 94 as we take final feedback and get ready to move the protocol handlers feature to Stable. In case you are enrolled in the origin trial for protocol handlers, we plan to end the trial period after Microsoft Edge version 94. We'll then determine when this feature will become Stable.
What's New in Microsoft Edge 93
Microsoft Edge version 93 became the Stable channel of Microsoft Edge on September 2, 2021. This article lists updates we made to Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) from both a developer and consumer point of view.
Measure usage of your Store-installed PWA
Microsoft Edge now includes a referrer header with the request for the first navigation of your Microsoft Store-installed PWA.
This feature was first introduced in Microsoft Edge version 91, and we shipped a bug fix in Microsoft Edge version 93.
Learn more in Publish a Progressive Web App to the Microsoft Store.
Window Controls Overlay origin trials
To have more control over the title bar area that's currently displayed in standalone display mode, you may want to experiment with Window Controls Overlay. Window Controls Overlay (WCO) is a set of features that work together to provide just the essential controls needed for the app window. This layout frees up more space for the web content layer. WCO is available for installed desktop PWAs.
Learn more about experimenting with Window Controls Overlay at Experimental features in Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
Register your origin for the Web App Window Controls Overlay trial at our Origin Trials Developer Console.
URL Handlers origin trial
Developers can now use the experimental feature Web App URL Handlers in origin trial. This feature allows the registration of an installed PWA to open links from other apps that refer to its scope.
Learn more about experimenting with URL handlers at Experimental features in Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
Register your domain for the Web App URL Handlers trial at our Origin Trials Developer Console.
Support for the Share API on macOS
We have implemented support for the navigator.share API for macOS. The feature is rolling out to stable Microsoft Edge browsers on macOS over the coming weeks.
Learn more about the navigator.share() API.
What's New in Microsoft Edge 92
Microsoft Edge version 92 became the stable channel of Microsoft Edge on July 22, 2021. This article lists updates we made to Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) from both a developer and consumer point of view.
Protocol handlers origin trial
You can now register your PWA to handle specific protocols with the host operating system. The Windows trial for protocol handlers is now available. You can register your origin for the Web App Protocol Handler trial at the origin trial signup page.
Learn more about using protocol handlers with your PWA at Experimental features in Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
Streamlined App Info menu
When a user selects the ellipses (...) button in the app's title bar, the App info menu is displayed. We've updated the App info menu and streamlined the user experience in the following ways, to provide a user experience that's more like a desktop app than a browser UI:
Moved the app Publisher information to the top level and made it the first thing a user sees:
Moved the privacy information and controls into a dedicated 2nd-level Privacy menu:
Moved content-related tools into a dedicated 2nd-level More tools menu:
Post-install flyout dialog box
After a PWA is installed from the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows, users can now select from four options to easily launch their apps:
- Pin to taskbar
- Pin to Start
- Create Desktop shortcut
- Auto-start on device login
For convenience, this flyout dialog box is shown the first time the app is launched:
This feature is being rolled out gradually to all users. In the meantime, if you'd like to use this feature, go to edge://flags and enable the flag Web Apps Post Install Dialog.
Restore Web Apps
Installed sites and PWAs that were running before an unexpected shutdown will now restore (that is, they will be restarted) when the system recovers.
An unexpected shutdown can occur due to process failure, system restart, or power outage. Before this change, installed sites and PWAs had indeterminate behavior upon system restore.
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