In Chrome, a similar feature is available by clicking the “…” menu, then heading to More Tools > Create Shortcut and selecting “Open as Window.” Microsoft Edge makes the feature even easier to reach: Under its “…” menu, there’s a menu called “Apps,” with an option to “Install this site as an app.”įirefox’s implementation clearly needed a lot of work.
These allowed websites to run in their own windows, without address bars, navigation buttons, or other clutter. To get a bit technical for a moment, the specific feature that Mozilla abandoned is called “site-specific browsers,” or SSBs. But it’s also just disappointing to see Mozilla abandon what is becoming a bastion against walled garden app stores. That puts Firefox at a disadvantage against Chrome and Edge, both of which are speeding ahead in making web apps an integral part of their desktop browsers.
“Initial exploration showed that was not going to provide that value.” “Our focus is on developing and exposing features that deliver real value to our users,” Romain Testard, a Mozilla product manager, said in an email statement.
