5

If you're on Ubuntu 20.04 and create a webapp through Chromium Snap (via menu, 'More tools', 'Create shortcut...', tag 'Open as window', right-click the .desktop file on your desktop and choose 'Allow Launching') you will notice the app cannot be pinned to the dock (since there's no option 'Add to Favorites'). Also, the webapp will not be found when you search for it.

pomsky
  • 68,507
iGadget
  • 873

2 Answers2

4

I tried a variety of things, but finally I gave up on the official Chromium build altogether. It turns out that the normal apt install just installs the snap (which seems like a jerk move, Canonical; I was trying to avoid the snap for a reason). But somebody maintains an unofficial Chromium build in a PPA: https://launchpad.net/~xalt7x/+archive/ubuntu/chromium-deb-vaapi

Make sure to follow the instructions on that page, which show you how to make the PPA version higher priority than the official one.

With that, you can get a decent experience by:

  • launching Chromium
  • going to the site you want to use like an app
  • picking More tools > Create shortcut
  • checking open as window
  • going to your desktop and finding the chrome-blahblahblah thing just created
  • right click and pick Allow Launching
  • move it to your ~/.local/share/applications directory
  • tapping on the Windows key, typing the name of your app, and launching it
  • now that it's in the dock, optionally right-click and pick Add to Favorites

Then at last you can have your favorite web app (e.g., Google Calendar) look and behave like a normal desktop app.

Parsa Mousavi
  • 3,305
  • 16
  • 37
William Pietri
  • 51
  • I hear you @William. The whole 'official' Chromium build is a joke. Eventually I installed Google Chrome via apt which worked out of the box. Such a shame to be forced back. – iGadget Jun 23 '20 at 21:27
2

Copy (or move) the .desktop file of the webapp to ~/.local/share/applications/.

After that, you can find your webapp in Gnome Apps and pin it to the dock like any other app.

Edit: apparently it's a big hit-and-miss game, as per this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/chromium-browser/+bug/1732482

Please indicate on Launchpad that you're affected by this bug to increase the heat and hopefully have it fixed faster.

pomsky
  • 68,507
iGadget
  • 873
  • 1
    Doesn't seem to work, it opens chromium but to a blank page – Gregory Palaci May 18 '20 at 04:41
  • 2
    @GregBenner I'm afraid there are several issues with the Chromium Snap. Today I tried again and my solution(s) do not seem to work anymore. It's a known bug as well (since 2017!!), but it doesn't seem to get a high priority... : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/chromium-browser/+bug/1732482 – iGadget May 21 '20 at 09:08