[Feature Request] Open Installed apps by default from edge

[hussain5416]

@Deleted Try to understand using example of Twitter

• I installed Twitter as an app from edge.
• Now when I open some twitter links in edge, it opens in a twitter tab.
• I can open these links directly in twitter app by two methods:
  1. Right click on the link and then open link in twitter app, or
  2. first open the link in as edge tab and then click on 'open twitter' icon in address bar

What would be more convenient:

• I installed Twitter as an app from edge.
• Now when I open some twitter links in edge, It should open in twitter apps by default

---> A toggle for this behavior would be appreciated. This would make the workflow smooth for those who use many apps.

Thanks.....:D

[#2]

@hussain5416 Interesting suggestion! Tagging @William Devereux in for visibility.

Fawkes (they/them)
Project & Community Manager - Microsoft Edge

[#3]

Thanks for understanding, let's see what  @William Devereux  have to say about it

[#4 · Accepted solution]

@hussain5416 we are actually working on this currently from three different perspectives:

1. doctype handling (so you would be able to set your Word PWA as the default app for .docx files

2. protocol handling (so if you clicked on a mailto:// link, it could launch your Mail PWA)

3. URI handling (so if the PWA registered, any links to "twitter.com" could open in the Twitter PWA)

https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/master/URLProtocolHandler/explainer.md

https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/master/PwaUriHandler/explainer.md

Thanks for the suggestion, as it strengthens our conviction that we're doing the right things.

-John

[#5]

@johnjansen  Thanks a lot for the info. All these (including GitHub explainers) are really awesome, I like them, and would look forward for those developments. I like all 3 scenarios and the ones posted in GitHub explainers.
And it's always heart warming to know that our feedback is really being useful.

Keep up good work...,=)

[#6]

@hussain5416 I have spent an hour trying to find how to open my mailto protocols natively in the Gmail PWA and not the browser itself. Finally, I stumbled upon this post. Micrsoft, if you don't do this, I am going back to Chrome.

[#7]

Can chrome apps be set as default?

[#8]

As much as I'd like it to be true, it is not the case. Chrome works exactly like the new Edge (Technically, it's the other way around). I mainly switched to Edge because their Android app is really good.

[#9]

Hey, is there any news on this?

[#10]

These are on the way. We've started documenting our new features at this URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/progressive-web-apps-chromium/whats-new/pwa#url-hand...
our plan is to post there for every release. You can see that URL Handlers and Protocol Handlers are both in Origin Trial, which means that developers can enable them for their PWAs now, and if they do that, then you can enable them on your end. Unfortunately, we don't have a good way to show you (the end user) which developers are actually participating in the Origin Trial. Origin Trials are meant to be a way for devs to give us direct feedback on the API surface.

TL;DR: unless we get feedback that says we need to change the API surface in some dramatic way, our target is always three or four releases between OT and on by default in Stable. So you should expect these to work (hopefully) in Edge 95 or 96 (which are currently planned for October and November).

-John