PWA App Installs no longer offer Tab Strip Settings in 105.0.1320+ [Regression/Bug]

Brass Contributor

I recently had to fresh install Edge and re-install apps.  I have the #enable-desktop-pwas-tab-strip and #enable-desktop-pwas-tab-strip-settings enabled but Apps no longer give me the option to install with a tab strip.

 

Anyone know of a way to manually configure PWA's to use the tab strip settings?

 

This is what Tab Strip in PWA's used to look like.

ahpatel_0-1657925427394.png

 

(I know Tab Strips in PWAs is experimental so this is primarily for awareness, though I'm hoping it can be fixed nonetheless).  This feature was a huge help in keeping my documents organized within PWAs (or - "fenced" would be a more honest description). 

 

This feature is still working in Chrome 105.0.5176.3 so I'm wondering if it's something in a recent Edge canary built that has broken the functionality.

5 Replies
I'm not sure if we fully support tabbed PWAs yet, so it's possible this may have just broken. Let me ask the team about it!

@josh_bodner 

Yeah, I do have flags turned on for tabbed PWA in Edge, so I know it's not a GA'd offering, but here's a test to run to show it can/does work on some sites...

 

Tabbed PWA working in Edge Apps
1. go to https://excalidraw.com/ and click on the install app icon from the address bar. Notice that there's an option for "Open as tabbed window"

ahpatel_0-1659633181861.png

 

Now, if instead, I use the Edge Apps Installer, it creates the PWA without ever giving me the options dialogue.

ahpatel_2-1659633439085.png

 

 

So... this becomes an issue for sites like Google Docs, which for some reason, Edge doesn't show the app install icon in the address bar (i.e., only way I can install Google Docs as a PWA is through the new Edge Apps, which as shown above, doesn't give me the option to make it a tabbed PWA).

Ah, so it's only that particular entry point, THAT'S why I didn't have any problem with it during my own testing. I'll let the team know!
Just a little bump to share that the functionality is still not working, though it is in Chromium 105.0.5195.102.

It would be great if this came out of the experimental stage, though I imagine that's aspect is an issue with Chromium rather than Edge. It's a feature I find very useful in Chrome, but maybe not many do.

It seems a quick fix would be to make Edge recognize more sites as apps, though I can understand that they might not be excited to do it for their competitor.
Resolved in 108.0.1438.0 (maybe earlier, but haven't checked in a while).
The "Open as tabbed window" checkbox now shows up again on all sites, including Google Docs.
Just uninstall and reinstall the PWAs for the option to show up again.