Progressive web apps for the Firefox extension

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Progressive Web Apps for Firefox is a browser extension for Mozilla’s Firefox web browser and a command-line utility for installing, managing, and using Progressive Web Apps (PWA) in Firefox.

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser supports many of the APIs used by PWAs, but Mozilla decided some time ago to remove the Firefox installation options. Most Chromium-based browsers support installing PWA directly from within. Installing on desktop systems adds these applications to the Start menu for quick access, and these applications launch in their own dedicated window.

Progressive web apps for Firefox introduce a number of features to Firefox that browser users may find useful. Some functions may even be useful for non-PWA users.

PWAs that are installed in Firefox through the extension benefit from a number of additional functions. One of the most interesting features of the extension is that the PWAs run in an isolated Firefox extension that can use multiple profiles to store the PWAs. These instances support all Firefox features and extensions that are installed, which means that content blockers and helper extensions, for example for downloading images, also work on these instances.

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Progressive web apps for Firefox do not limit installation to PWAs. You can use it to install any website as a progressive web application, and that means you can run them in the sandbox environment.

The extension requires the plug-in program, which is open source and available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It can be downloaded from the Project repository, while the Firefox plug-in is available from the Official Mozilla Plug-in Repository. Instructions on how to install the program are provided after the installation of the extension.

Windows users must install a specific Visual C ++ Redistributable, if not already installed, before running the FirefoxPWA MSI installer. Winget users can run the winget install -e Microsoft.VC ++ 2015-2019Redist-x64 command to install the redistributable file. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard, provided by the extension, to complete the installation.

Installations of web applications or websites are done through the extension menu after configuration. Just activate the icon and click the install button to install the current site as a web application. It can then be started from the operating system’s Start menu or via the extension icon. Installed sites can be started, edited or deleted via the extension icon.

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All web applications are installed in a single profile by default, but using the command line tool for managing profiles opens options for creating and using separate profiles. In theory, it is possible to create a separate profile for each web application to isolate the applications from each other. Instructions on how to do this are in the readme.

Closing words

Progressive Web Apps for Firefox is a useful extension and tool for Firefox users who want to run progressive web applications or websites as applications in Firefox. Installation is a bit tricky as you need to install several separate pieces to get started. Firefox users who just want to isolate sites from each other can consider using containers or different Firefox profiles for that.

Now you: Do you use PWA?

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