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progressive-web-appsservice-workermanifest

The browser-default installation prompt for my PWA is not displayed. Why?


I followed all recommended steps for setting up a PWA which can be installed on the user device, following the guideline here: Installable PWAs (MDN):

To make the website installable, it needs the following things in place:

- A web manifest, with the correct fields filled in
- The web site to be served from a secure (HTTPS) domain
- An icon to represent the app on the device
- A service worker registered, to allow the app to work offline (this is required only by Chrome for Android currently)

Still, I don't see the browser-default installation prompt.

How do I find out, why my PWA cannot be installed?


Solution

  • I recommend using Lighthouse, which is an excellent tool for auditing your web app with respect to different categories, including PWA properties. It is also available in Google Chrome in the developer tools (Ctrl-Shift-I / Cmd-Opt-I and select tab Lighthouse).

    How do I trigger a PWA audit in Lighthouse (in Google Chrome)?

    Choose the category Progressive Web App and then click on Generate report.

    screenshot - categories in Lighthouse

    Example report

    In the example below, you can see that there are some issues present. But the reason, why you don't see the installation prompt is the service worker. Apparently, it isn't registered as expected.

    Web app manifest or service worker do not meet the installability requirements

    screenshot - report from lighthouse