Make Gitpod a Progressive Web App

[felipecrs]

With this, Gitpod workspaces could be opened in Gitpod PWA instead of as a tab in the browser. It would save a lot of space in the top bar and make Gitpod online IDE feels more like a desktop app.

CodeSandbox supports it: https://codesandbox.io/s/.

Note that users can force the install of Gitpod as a PWA by themselves, however, supporting it by default has some benefits:

• better icons
• better window title
• title bar theming
• a beautiful prompt to install as a app in Google Chrome
• and more, of course.
• ability to open by default new workspaces in Gitpod's previously installed PWA

Look at how different the size could be in the browser:
Before

After

[svenefftinge]

Did you try
https://itnext.io/i-wrote-a-chrome-extension-gitpod-window-here-is-what-i-learned-8583a3a179dd

[Kreyren]

kreyren would implement this as a configuration option and to be used on demand if needed

[felipecrs]

@svenefftinge that's cool, pretty much what I was looking for.

However, with the PWA this extension would not be required. So, I think the PWA is still an improvement, don't you think?

[jankeromnes]

I 100% agree that it would be super cool to make Gitpod a Progressive Web App that you can install on any device and use full-screen / with native keybindings. 🚀

For that, we should:

• Add a manifest.json file: https://gitpod.io/manifest.json
• Add a Service Worker with a fetch handler, to explicitly implement caching & offline behavior (doesn't have to be full-blown functional offline IDE at first, but can work towards that in small steps)

Learn more: https://web.dev/progressive-web-apps/

[stoopman]

are there any concrete plans for this feature?

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[atduarte]

I certainly empathize with the shortcuts (e.g. cmd/ctrl-w) issue and loss of vertical space.

Currently, we are investing in improving the local experience by allowing users to seamlessly use their preferred local IDE. In my opinion, such an experience will feel more native and natural than a PWA, while it also solves the issues mentioned here.

We wrote a blog post with some preliminary details (here) and will share more soon.