The new version of Microsoft Edge based on the Chromium engine will have a deep integration with Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) allowing web apps to install and behave like native modern apps on Windows 10.
The integration was first spotted at the Microsoft Tech Community site, where a user pointed out a new “Web Apps Identity Proxy” flag in the advanced settings of Chromium Edge (Canary), which described the feature as “enables installed web apps to be created with modern Windows application identity for better integration with the Windows shell.”
While the flag didn’t fully clarify the feature, John Jansen, an employee from Microsoft, replied to the post saying that the feature enables web apps in the next version of Windows 10 (referring to Windows 10 version 2004) to appear in the desktop as native apps.
This means that Progressive Web Apps will not only behave as desktop apps, but they’ll be easy to uninstall. They will show up in Task Manager under their own names, and many other features, such as notifications, custom labels, etc. John also explained, that “in the future, apps should then get badges and unique jump lists as well.”
It’s yet unclear when the PWAs features will be fully integrated, but it signals a waves of new apps coming to Windows 10.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].