The problem, though, is that PWAs (as we’ll call ’em henceforth) aren’t treated as apps by Android. And that means they don’t automatically follow you around from one device to another and restore like more traditional types of apps do. It’s up to you to remember ’em and go back to find and install ’em one by one, via each of their associated websites, each and every time you sign into a new device or restart an existing one.
That, suffice it to say, is a massive pain in the patootie.
But now, Chrome has a better way. Halle-freakin’-lujah.
All you’ve gotta do is enable it:
- One final time, type chrome:flags into that beautiful address bar of yours.
- Type pwa into the search box.
- Find both “Enable the PWA Restore Backend” and “Enable the PWA Restore UI” and flip ’em over to “Enabled.”
- And — drumroll, please… — tap Relaunch.
Now, whenever Chrome detects that you’ve got web apps you might need to restore, it’ll pop up a simple prompt offering to do so — with absolutely no annoying web wading and manual app installing required on your part.
JR Raphael, Foundry
Just remember that you’ll need to activate those same options on all of your devices in order for the feature to function properly and start detecting and suggesting PWA restores.
For now, it’s a peek into the future — and an enticing way to get a taste of something useful well ahead of most average Android-appreciating animals.
As a productivity-loving power-user, that may be the most satisfying feeling of all.
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