Additionally, the apps that are pinned to the taskbar on Windows 10 can be opened with the Win+NumberKey shortcut. Something like this doesn’t exist on macOS out of the box but if you want to launch Dock apps with hotkeys, you can do so with a free app called Snap. LaunchCuts is a powerful, customizable, and elegant launcher for shortcuts on iOS. Folders: Organize your shortcuts into folders. Smart Folders: Display shortcuts based on multiple criteria, including tags, colors, icons, shortcut type, unfiled status, and accepted. The App launcher makes opening and switching between your apps easy by highlighting your recently used apps, and providing quick access to your recent online. How to Quickly Open the Launchpad on a Mac. You can typically start Launchpad by pressing F4 on your keyboard, or your can create a custom shortcut. You can also do a three-finger pinch on a touchpad, or assign Launchpad to a Hot Corner on.
- How To Use Shortcuts App
- Mac Os Launcher
- Mac Os Shortcuts App Launcher Windows 10
- Mac Os Shortcuts App Launcher Settings
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The app shortcuts menu is invoked by right-clicking the app icon in the taskbar (Windows) or dock (macOS) on the user's desktop, or long pressing the app's launcher icon on Android. App shortcuts menu opened on Android App shortcuts menu opened on Windows.
Get things done quickly with app shortcuts
To improve users' productivity and facilitate re-engagement with key tasks, theweb platform now supports app shortcuts. They allow web developers to providequick access to a handful of common actions that users need frequently.
At the time of writing, app shortcuts are available on Android (Chrome 84) andWindows (Chrome 85 and Edge 85).
This article will teach you how to define those app shortcuts. Additionally,you'll learn some associated best practices.
About app shortcuts #
App shortcuts help users quickly start common or recommended tasks within yourweb app. Easy access to those tasks from anywhere the app icon is displayed willenhance users' productivity as well as increase their engagement with the webapp.
The app shortcuts menu is invoked by right-clicking the app icon in the taskbar(Windows) or dock (macOS) on the user's desktop, or long pressing the app'slauncher icon on Android.
How To Use Shortcuts App
The app shortcuts menu is shown only for Progressive Web Apps that areinstalled on the user's desktop or mobile device. Check out What does it taketo be installable? to learn about installability requirements.
Each app shortcut expresses a user intent, each of which is associated with aURL within the scope of your web app. The URL is opened when users activatethe app shortcut. Examples of app shortcuts include the following:
- Top-level navigation items (e.g., home, timeline, recent orders)
- Search
- Data entry tasks (e.g., compose an email or tweet, add a receipt)
- Activities (e.g., start a chat with the most popular contacts)
Big thanks to the folks at Microsoft Edge and Intel for designing andstandardizing app shortcuts. Chrome depends on a community of committers workingtogether to move the Chromium project forward. Not every Chromium committer is aGoogler, and these contributors deserve special recognition!
Define app shortcuts in the web app manifest #
App shortcuts are optionally defined in the web app manifest, a JSON file thattells the browser about your Progressive Web App and how it should behave wheninstalled on the user's desktop or mobile device. More specifically, they aredeclared in the
shortcuts
array member. Below is anexample of a potential web app manifest.Each member of the
shortcuts
array is a dictionary that contains at least aname
and a url
. Other members are optional.name #
The human-readable label for the app shortcut whendisplayed to the user.
short_name (optional) #
The human-readable label used where space is limited. It is recommendedthat you provide it, even though it'soptional.
description (optional) #
The human-readable purpose for the app shortcut.It is not used at the time of writing but may be exposed to assistive technologyin the future.
url #
The URL opened when a user activates the appshortcut. This URL must exist within the scope of the web app manifest. If it isa relative URL, the base URL will be the URL of the web app manifest.
icons (optional) #
Mac Os Launcher
An array of image resource objects. Each object mustinclude the
src
and a sizes
property. Unlike web app manifest icons, thetype
of image is optional.SVG files are not supported at the time of writing, use PNG instead.
If you want pixel-perfect icons, provide them in increments of 48dp (i.e. 36x36,48x48, 72x72, 96x96, 144x144, 192x192 pixel icons). Otherwise, it is recommendedthat you use a single 192x192 pixel icon.
As a quality measure, icons must be at least half of the device's ideal size onAndroid, which is 48dp. For example, to display on an xxhdpi screen, the iconmust be at least 72 by 72 pixels. (This is derived from theformula for converting dp units for pixel units.)
Test your app shortcuts #
To verify your app shortcuts are setup correctly, use the Manifest pane in theApplication panel of DevTools.
Mac Os Shortcuts App Launcher Windows 10
This pane provides a human-readable version of many of your manifest'sproperties, including app shortcuts. It makes it easy to verify that all of theshortcut icons, if provided, are loading properly.
DevTools support for app shortcuts is available in Chrome 84 and Edge 84 and later.
App shortcuts may not be available right away to all users because ProgressiveWeb App updates are capped to once a day. You can find more details in thisarticle.
Best practises #
Mac Os Shortcuts App Launcher Settings
Order app shortcuts by priority #
You are encouraged to order app shortcuts by priority, with the most criticalapp shortcuts appearing first in the
shortcuts
array as the limit on thenumber of app shortcuts displayed varies depending on the platform. Chrome andEdge on Windows for instance limit the number of app shortcuts to 10 whileChrome for Android only takes the first 4 app shortcuts into account.Use distinct app shortcut names #
You should not rely on icons to differentiate app shortcuts as they may notalways be visible. For instance, macOS doesn't support icons in the dockshortcuts menu. Use distinct names for each app shortcut.
Measure app shortcuts usage #
You should annotate app shortcuts
url
entries like you would do withstart_url
for analytics purposes (e.g. url: '/my-shortcut?utm_source=homescreen'
).Browser support #
App shortcuts are available on Android (Chrome 84) and Windows (Chrome 85 andEdge 85). More desktop platform support will follow.
Trusted Web Activity support #
Bubblewrap, the recommended tool to build Android apps that use Trusted WebActivity, reads app shortcuts from the web app manifest and automaticallygenerates the corresponding configuration for the Android app. Note that iconsfor app shortcuts are required and must be at least 96 by 96 pixels inBubblewrap.
PWABuilder, a great tool to easily turn a Progressive Web App into a TrustedWeb Activity, supports app shortcuts with some caveats.
For developers integrating Trusted Web Activity manually into their Androidapplication, Android app shortcuts can be used to implement the samebehaviors.
Sample #
Check out the app shortcuts sample and its source.
Helpful links #
- App shortcuts sample | App shortcuts sample source
- Blink Component:
UI>Browser>WebAppInstalls