prefer_related_applications

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

See full compatibility

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The prefer_related_applications manifest member is used to provide a hint to browsers whether to prefer installing native applications specified in the related_applications manifest member over your web application.

Syntax

json

/* Boolean values */
"prefer_related_applications": true
"prefer_related_applications": false

Values

prefer_related_applications

A boolean value:

If set to true, browsers may prompt users to install one of the applications listed in related_applications instead of your web app.
If set to false or omitted, browsers will prefer to install your web app over related native applications.

Note: For Chromium-based browsers, prefer_related_applications should be set to false or omitted to make your web app installable.

Examples

Specifying preference for installing your web app

Consider a scenario where you have both a web app and native apps for your product available on Google Play Store and Windows Store. If you want to offer related native apps as options but prefer users to install your web app, you can set it up in your manifest file as shown below. Browsers will promote your web app for installation. The native apps will still be available as alternatives.

json

{
  "prefer_related_applications": false,
  "related_applications": [
    {
      "platform": "play",
      "id": "com.example.hiking-app"
    },
    {
      "platform": "windows",
      "url": "https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nqx6sv74srz"
    }
  ]
}

Specifying preference for installing the related native app

To encourage users to install your native Android hiking app from Google Play Store in preference to the web app, you can configure your web app's manifest file as shown below.

json

{
  "prefer_related_applications": true,
  "related_applications": [
    {
      "platform": "play",
      "id": "com.example.hiking-app"
    }
  ]
}

Specifications

Specification
Manifest Incubations # prefer_related_applications-member

Browser compatibility

	desktop					mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android	WebView on iOS
`prefer_related_applications` Experimental	Chrome – No support Chrome footnote footnote `prefer_related_applications` must be `false` or not present for a web app to be installable.	Edge – Full support Edge 17 (Release date: 2018-04-30) footnote Full support	Firefox – No support Firefox footnote No support	Opera – No support Opera footnote footnote `prefer_related_applications` must be `false` or not present for a web app to be installable.	Safari – No support Safari footnote No support	Chrome Android – Full support Chrome Android 44 (Release date: 2015-07-29) footnote Full support	Firefox for Android – No support Firefox for Android footnote footnote The property parses, but has no effect.	Opera Android – Full support Opera Android 32 (Release date: 2015-09-23) footnote Full support	Safari on iOS – No support Safari on iOS footnote No support	Samsung Internet – Full support Samsung Internet 4 (Release date: 2016-03-11) footnote Full support	WebView Android – Full support WebView Android 44 (Release date: 2015-07-29) footnote Full support	WebView on iOS – No support WebView on iOS footnote No support

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
: Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
: See implementation notes.

prefer_related_applications

Legend