Reviews for Progressive Web Apps for Firefox
Progressive Web Apps for Firefox by Filip Š
Review by Ded10c
Rated 5 out of 5
by Ded10c, 5 months agoWhen I finally got sick enough of Edge to migrate my work PC to Firefox, being able to use Power Platform apps as PWAs instead of having them fill my browser with tabs was the one of the two things I missed. Between this and Sidebery, both features are covered to such an extent that going back to what I was missing now would be a significant step down.
Privacy was one of the main reasons I moved to Firefox, and I expected PWAs to be a necessary sacrifice in the name of effective isolation, but this extension supports all my existing extensions too: I'm able to supplement each app with uBlock, JShelter, LocalCDN, and whatever other site-specific extensions I might want to. PWAs run completely isolated from the main browser in their own shared instance of Firefox, and each can be set to launch on a specified profile - meaning I no longer need to think about Meta's cross site tracking seeing anything outside the profile I've set up to sandbox my Messenger PWA away from my Google Drive or Microsoft Office ones.
The PWAs are reliable and lightweight, and in my experience much better at handling their boundaries than their mainstream cousins - I've not had one kick me back to my main browser when I try to open a document yet, and they've had every opportunity.
PWAs for Firefox does have a more involved installation experience than most extensions and it can be a little bit finicky if you're working in a deployed environment - this is unfortunately by necessity, and I imagine most of the target audience are likely to be the sort of power user who has few qualms manually unpacking a Firefox installer. This is also the only thing I've encountered that even comes close to being a downside.
This took less than three hours to become an essential extension for me, and it's heartily recommended to anyone who prefers their convenience to come without a helping of tracking on the side.
Privacy was one of the main reasons I moved to Firefox, and I expected PWAs to be a necessary sacrifice in the name of effective isolation, but this extension supports all my existing extensions too: I'm able to supplement each app with uBlock, JShelter, LocalCDN, and whatever other site-specific extensions I might want to. PWAs run completely isolated from the main browser in their own shared instance of Firefox, and each can be set to launch on a specified profile - meaning I no longer need to think about Meta's cross site tracking seeing anything outside the profile I've set up to sandbox my Messenger PWA away from my Google Drive or Microsoft Office ones.
The PWAs are reliable and lightweight, and in my experience much better at handling their boundaries than their mainstream cousins - I've not had one kick me back to my main browser when I try to open a document yet, and they've had every opportunity.
PWAs for Firefox does have a more involved installation experience than most extensions and it can be a little bit finicky if you're working in a deployed environment - this is unfortunately by necessity, and I imagine most of the target audience are likely to be the sort of power user who has few qualms manually unpacking a Firefox installer. This is also the only thing I've encountered that even comes close to being a downside.
This took less than three hours to become an essential extension for me, and it's heartily recommended to anyone who prefers their convenience to come without a helping of tracking on the side.
195 reviews
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 18439079, 5 days ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 13592115, 14 days ago
- Rated 3 out of 5by SeaMonkey45, 25 days agoBest pwas imo. Only thing that made me stop using it was that it stopped registering the .rpm file forcing me out of the manager. Wish the installation screen had a skip button in the event of this. Also it would cool to have some way to copy and paste the webapps on to different devices. Could be like Firefox sync or just some file but either way it would be a cool feature.
Developer response
posted 23 days agoWhat do you mean by "stopped registering the .rpm file"? Please create an issue on GitHub about that.
Also, you can already copy and paste the webapps on to a different device. Just copy the config file and the profiles directory in the user data directory (https://pwasforfirefox.filips.si/resources/installation-directories/#user-data) to another device and run "Update web apps" from the extension settings on the target device. - Rated 4 out of 5by Firefox user 6909674, a month agoIt works for me on Linux, unfortunately it doesn't on Mac M1, I can't make it work, even though the installation of the necessary packages is successful. Anyone here help me??
Developer response
posted a month agoHave you linked the manifest as described in the installation instructions? Also, please create a discussion on GitHub: https://github.com/filips123/PWAsForFirefox/discussions - Rated 4 out of 5by Jake Hall, a month agoIt's a little finicky out of the box on Zorin OS, which defaults to flatpak Firefox. But I found I could switch to the snap version and have success installing the additional components necessary. I've also noticed I often need to launch PWAs twice, the first time they close immediately and the second launch they perform fine. I like being able to control whether the PWA uses it's own or a shared profile. I've found the shared profile useful for using Office365 apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams which I need for work, but isolated profiles are great most of the time.
- Rated 5 out of 5by Kristo, a month ago
- Rated 4 out of 5by Firefox user 14054691, 2 months ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by cooukiez, 2 months ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 17180451, 2 months ago
- Rated 1 out of 5by Ronaldo, 2 months agoNo funciona. Seguí todo paso a paso cuidadosamente y se queda en el paso 2. Hasta reinicie el computador y no funciona. La extensión solo se limita a decir "An unexpected error occurred". Lastima por que se veìa prometedora la extension. Tengo Ubuntu 23.
Developer response
posted 2 months agoThere are sometimes problems with Firefox version on Ubuntu. Please check the documentation for possible solution: https://pwasforfirefox.filips.si/help/faq/#why-doesnt-the-extension-find-the-native-connector-on-linux
If that doesn't fix the issue, please create an issue on GitHub: https://github.com/filips123/PWAsForFirefox/issues - Rated 5 out of 5by Andy Linton, 2 months agoIt's nice to have PWAs working in Firefox. Like other reviewers I think this functionality should be part of the browser as a default.
- Rated 3 out of 5by pingucorn, 2 months agoCool app but it brakes profile switcher addon. Even after uninstalling it, the runtime, firefox, I cant get my other addon to work again.
- Rated 3 out of 5by Mir, 2 months agoUnfortunately after the 2.11.1 update everything stopped working. The extension is asking me to update which I did update the PWAsForFirefox app on windows but it doesn't work anymore.
When I open my apps are simply all white.Developer response
posted 2 months agoMake sure that both the extension and the native program are updated to 2.11.1, and then run "Patch profiles and runtime" from the extension settings. If you are still having issues, please comment on GitHub: https://github.com/filips123/PWAsForFirefox/issues/475 - Rated 5 out of 5by 浪迹天涯小叮当, 2 months ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by TS, 2 months agoDeveloper was prompt in addressing a false positive detection for malware in the system files. The issue is amended and application works great. Thank you.
Developer response
posted 2 months agoI have submitted a false positive report to Microsoft and they have removed the detection. You may need to update your malware definitions. You can see more details here: https://github.com/filips123/PWAsForFirefox/issues/480 - Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 15783088, 2 months agoOne of the best Firefox add-ons out there. U can make almost any website an app! A must-have. Keep up the good work!
- Rated 5 out of 5by Marliun, 2 months ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by ks1v, 3 months ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 14627649, 3 months agoThis functionality ought to be built in to the browser.
- Rated 5 out of 5by Astral, 3 months ago
- Rated 5 out of 5by Firefox user 16500071, 3 months ago