Chrome has offered the ability to “install” web apps on your computer for some time, and the feature is also available on the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. Now the Edge browser has an easier way to manage web apps, with more improvements on the way.
Microsoft Edge lets you install web apps (as long as the web apps allow it), which then puts them in the Start menu on Windows or in the Applications folder on macOS. You can already manage or uninstall them later by opening the app or looking for them in Windows’ “Apps & features” list, but Microsoft simplified the process with the Edge v101 update in April.
Microsoft Edge now has an App Hub, which you can access from the main menu (click “Apps” in the main Edge menu) or by pinning the Apps button to the toolbar. The hub is a quick access panel for web apps you’ve already installed, and there’s a button to install a site you’ve opened. There’s also a larger apps page (accessible from “Manage apps” in the menu or edge://apps), seen above.
These features have already been rolled out, but Microsoft has more on the way. The company is testing a new “App Sync” option, which will sync a list of web apps you have installed on one of your computers. It won’t actually install each web application on all your computers automatically, but it will give you a one-click install button for each application, which may be faster than finding them on each computer.
The new app sync feature is available to try in the Microsoft Edge beta (specifically version 102 and later), and it’s expected to roll out to the standard browser “over the next few months.”
These improvements come as Google and Microsoft work to integrate new APIs into their browsers, as part of the Fugu project (also known as the Web Capabilities project). This effort has led to new features for web applications, such as limited file system access, web application icon badges, clipboard reading and writing, and many other features. which were only available to native apps in the past.
However, not all recent changes to Microsoft Edge have been positive. Many people complained after Microsoft added a built-in “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) option when shopping online, essentially encouraging people to set up loan payments for purchases.
Source: Windows Blog
