

"Chrome-style" Desktop Apps that work today in Firefox - potch
https://marketplace.firefox.com/search?q=%3Adesktop

======
Refefer
Apparently uninstalling apps is only easily available currently for Windows
and Mac. You have to go through a somewhat manual kludge currently for Linux
varieties.

edit:
[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Marketplace/Mozillian_Preview#Unins...](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Marketplace/Mozillian_Preview#Uninstalling_an_Application)

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kungfooey
Is this just a link to the Firefox OS marketplace? I had no idea these could
be installed to the desktop, too.

~~~
potch
Yessir! Developers can submit apps with the notion that they can run on
Firefox Desktop, and it will work.

~~~
jemeshsu
Anyone knows how to bypass OS X 's Gatekeeper to launch the app? Normal app is
Ctrl-click to overwrite Gatekeeper blocking. But can't Ctrl -click on the
"Launch" button on the page as it pop up context menu.

~~~
potch
The app is also in your Applications directory, and you can Ctrl-click the
icon in there.

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lallysingh
The first I see is the irony vis-a-vis pre-firefox Mozilla. They had a similar
system (I'm looking for the old book I had on it) using a widget set called
XUL. I tried using it. It hurt.

I guess the lesson is one of:

    
    
      (1) don't make complicated XML-based APIs
      (2) stick to standards (e.g., using HTML now instead of XUL)
      (3) if your system isn't getting traction, retry in 10 years?

~~~
untog
XUL is/was the language for the entire Mozilla app UI. So it's not like they
invented it specifically for third parties to use- or even with them in mind.

~~~
csuwldcat
XUL is only used for the external chrome interface of the Firefox desktop
browser, let's be clear not to commingle the technology used to build the UI
of Firefox with the standards-based technologies that power web apps/pages ;)

~~~
JasonSage
No, but it is entirely possible to build desktop-installable apps using the
Firefox internals, with XUL as the primary interface technology. This was the
idea behind XULRunner, a Firefox runtime package for you to build your apps
with.

[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/XULRunner](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/XULRunner)

The XML-based XUL isn't terrible, either, considering the respectable set of
widgets and the ability to control all the styles with CSS. The nasty part, in
my experience, was trying to get through the messy FFI that was XPCOM.

~~~
jdangu
Check out Pencil (mockup app)
[http://pencil.evolus.vn/](http://pencil.evolus.vn/) for an example of multi-
platform desktop app based on XULRunner.

------
dahjelle
Is it possible to create a desktop app like this, for web sites of my choice,
without using the Marketplace? It occurs to me that Firefox is very nearly
able to provide a site-specific browser experience, like Fluid[1], but I'm not
sure how to do it.

[1] [http://fluidapp.com/](http://fluidapp.com/)

~~~
potch
There is, but only if you can place a manifest file[1] on the domain where the
app resides. Any website can trigger installation of an app via an API[2].

[1] [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/Apps/Manifest](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/Apps/Manifest)

[2] [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/API/Apps.instal...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/API/Apps.install?redirectlocale=en-
US&redirectslug=DOM%2FApps.install)

------
markchristian
It's a little embarrassing that the Soundcloud screenshot is of Chrome.

~~~
orclev
I noticed that as well. There's actually quite a few apps in there that have
screenshots of a Chrome tab. I think whoever submitted them just re-used an
existing screenshot they had sitting around.

~~~
jaxbot
Take once, use everywhere. We have achieved zen WORA

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truebosko
It's not the best experience. When you install an app, you don't really know
where to go to use it. Atleast in Chrome, you see it pop into the apps screen.

~~~
elktea
So where do you go? I've installed one and clicked through all of my menus and
can't find it anywhere. It's not in my OS launcher either.

~~~
cvan
[http://f.cl.ly/items/3Y203B2A3f0r3Y221T3j/appz.png](http://f.cl.ly/items/3Y203B2A3f0r3Y221T3j/appz.png)

If you install the app from its detail page, there is a message telling you
where the app now lives. The "Free" install button becomes a "Launch" button
that opens the actual executable.

On the search results pages, we don't add any messaging. I've filed an
enhancement bug to consider exposing this to users:
[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=913728](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=913728)

~~~
elktea
Thank you. I think it doesn't work on Fedora 19, my "Free" button never
changes to "Launch".

edit: filed a bug

~~~
potch
Thanks for filing!

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math0ne
First time i've seen this. Must have missed the announcement?

~~~
kumar303
marketing/PR has been focused on mobile so that we can shift as much focus
there as possible. The dilemma is that most devs are not spending time to make
their apps work on mobile devices. However, a miniscule amount of people use
Firefox OS on their phone so it would have been nice to use desktop apps to
bootstrap the ecosystem.

------
walid
Thanks for the reminder. I actually used some apps early on but there weren't
many and somehow forgot about them. I'll use some of these desktop apps more
especially Wikipedia and SoundCloud.

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lobster_johnson
I have been wishing for this ever since the company I work for standardized
communication on Google Plus/Hangouts (which I don't normally use) with the
company Gmail account (which I only use for this, so I'm not usually logged
into it). :-/

I can use Adium's XMPP support for the plaintext IM stuff, but for Hangouts I
have to keep the damn window open all the time, logged into the company
account, or people won't be able to call me. Every time someone calls, or I
have to call someone, I have to hunt down the window/tab where Plus lives.

Wrapping Plus/Hangouts in an app would solve this for me. Anyone know if
someone has done that with Firefox or Chrome (on a Mac)?

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csuwldcat
Sad that this PSA even needs to be written, but alas:

 __* NO, open web apps that run on Firefox and Chrome are in no way linked to
non-standard markup languages like XUL. __*

Please disregard any users who have made this fallacious assertion.

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javascript4life
Before Chrome and Firefox there is Pokki, which has been doing this for over 2
years. HTML, JavaScript, and CSS desktop apps, with App Store.

[http://developers.pokki.com](http://developers.pokki.com)

~~~
walid
The weakness with such an approach is that it is not the browser itself
pushing the apps through user discoverable means. You have to know about Pokki
before hand in order to find it. I myself never knew such a service existed
until now. In some ways Pokki is more powerful than Firefox on Windows but it
nearly providing the same kind of functionality.

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reirob
Wow just tried it out in Ubuntu, installed the free calculator and guess where
you find the installed app? In the Dash. I did not imagine the integration is
so great.

I definitely will look into Firefox apps now more closely.

~~~
tombrossman
I'm using 12.04 still and was stuck with Gwibber, hoping to see something like
this. I just installed TweetDeck (and an open-sourced Google Authenticator
app) and what a pleasant surprise!

I'll have to test these more thoroughly but both installed no problem and
appear to be working perfectly.

This is especially good timing because I'd like to move off Android to a
Firefox OS mobile handset soon. Once I see something performance/spec
comparable to a Nexus 4 I'm on board.

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blntechie
Pulse app is really good and works like a native app. Never knew this worked
for Desktop as well.

