@mathix maybe you can make it clear on the website that this doesn't create app/play store apps, as most people probably think about them when they read "turn any website into an app".
From the github readme[0]:
> FTWA uses the --app='https://app.example' parameter with Chromium-based browsers to launch a website in "app mode".
> [...]
> When choosing linux as target OS, FTWA generate a shell script that will create a .desktop file and it's icons.
[0]: https://github.com/mathix420/free-the-web-apps?tab=readme-ov...
* The Firefox (BETA) entry does not work on default Ubuntu installs, where Firefox is a Snap. Yes, snap bad, bla bla bla, but it still remains one of the most likely way Firefox will be installed on Ubuntu. This comes from the fact that your script attempts to locate the profile folder in ~/.mozilla/firefox, whereas snaps stores them in ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox/.
* New profiles unfortunately don't share logins on Firefox, which means your app is disconnected at first. Not a big deal, but could maybe be changed by copying some things from the default profile ?
* Firefox does not display _any_ titlebar when ran in this way.
Love the idea. There's many times where I'd like something to have a bit more "privilege" on my toolbar than what a regular tab (even pinned) gets.
Also known as "90% of your users". Defaults stick, and there's nothing bad enough about snaps that i'd waste time of my day adding the debian repo, trying to switch my profiles over, etc.
That was enough for me not to look into the technical merits of the clientside implementation. The few experiences I had with snap was that programs were starting slowly (Firefox) and e.g. GPU acceleration did not work (vlc). Not sure how good the sandboxing is. But I run my Firefox sandboxed by firejail and the overhead can not be felt in daily usage.
On at least 3 occasions, I became aware of this when I would open Firefox and nothing would happen, except a message that "Firefox is already running". The only resolution was to install the deb Firefox package.
A couple months ago, I needed to do a fresh install since my system got borked during the upgrade to 24.04 LTS. As usual, the Firefox snap package was installed, so I decided to give it a try.
To its credit, it actually works this time. However, it will not save images on right click or open Zoom meeting links in the desktop client. I am fairly certain this problem would disappear if I switched back to the deb package, but it's not a big enough hassle for me to bother. I can live with some workarounds for now.
Overall, I don't mind snaps, but the Firefox snap has been far more trouble than it's worth.
- Yes I could create a second firefox preset for snap installs - I would prefer not to touch such sensible files, but will give instructions on how to do it manually
There is an official thread here with people discussing how the single-page-as-an-app functionality should work: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/how-can-firefox-c...
I ended up writing a firefox extension to open up URLs in a new "popup" window[1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/web-app-maker.... I just checked it on Windows (usually using linux) and the popup window type does not allow the maximize button to work. Oh well...
[1]https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web...
It does the same, but runs as a "separate app" so that cmd+Q only exits the app
I wanted Udemy app to be available for smart TV platforms like FireTV stick or SamsungTV.
Udemy makes an android and ios app but not for TVs.
Teachable is another online learning platform that ignores Android altogether and makes only an ios app.
LMS vendors like Docebo that have become very popular (AWS Skill Builder, Databricks academy, etc) have very poor mobile support.
Wonder if there is a way to make it work using tools like these. Any pointers in that direction would be appreciated.
I believe the PWAs will correctly show up in the OS native app launchers.
1. Does this make the apps show up as separate windows in Alt+Tab and a Dock etc? (FWIW I use GNOME + Dash to dock + Wayland)
2. Let's say you have a mail app and you click a link. Does that link open in the separate default browser?
I remember trying these command line options for Brave/Chrome, but I couldn't find a way where both of the above were working and thus they didn't feel like proper apps. I've only been using this for something like Apple Music, where I never click on any link that takes me outside. For everything else, like mail and notes, I've been using pinned tabs, but that feels suboptimal too.
2. This could do the trick for you https://askubuntu.com/a/251738/1163389 make it point to the desktop file that ftwa created in this folder: ~/.local/share/applications
Eager to try your product! Have you considered including it on SetApp?
They removed the option last August. It's really disappointing to me, because I'm a very heavy user.