ember-web-app

ember-web-app

This Ember addon helps you configure and manage the web app manifest and related meta tags needed to create a Progressive Web Application

From MDN

The web app manifest provides information about an application (such as name, author, icon, and description) in a text file. The purpose of the manifest is to install web applications to the homescreen of a device, providing users with quicker access and a richer experience.

Addon features:

• Generates a manifest.ember-web-app.json file using a JavaScript template
• Uses fingerprint for images
• Generates equivalent meta tags for supporting other devices (e.g. iPhone)
• Validates the configuration

Here's a brief list of the main missing features that we intend to add in the future.

• Generate image variants for different devices
• Generate Microsoft's browserconfig.xml manifest for Win8/Win10 integration

See the documentation section below for more information.

Table of content

• Installation
• Example
• Configuration
• API documentation
  • name
  • short_name
  • background_color
  • description
  • dir
  • display
  • icons
  • lang
  • orientation
  • prefer_related_applications
  • related_applications
  • scope
  • start_url
  • theme_color
  • apple
    • apple.statusBarStyle
    • apple.precomposed
• Development
• Project's health
• License

Installation

$ ember install ember-web-app

This generates a config/manifest.js configuration file.

Example

Having the following configuration file config/manifest.js

module.exports = function() {
  return {
    name: "Let's Cook",
    short_name: "Let's Cook",
    description: "An app for organizing your weekly menu and groceries list.",
    start_url: "/",
    display: "standalone",
    background_color: "#ffa105",
    theme_color: "#ffa105",

    icons: [
      {
        src: "/images/icons/android-chrome-192x192.png",
        sizes: "192x192",
        type: "image/png"
      },
      {
        src: "/images/icons/android-chrome-512x512.png",
        sizes: "512x512",
        type: "image/png"
      },
      {
        src: "/images/icons/apple-touch-icon.png",
        sizes: "180x180",
        type: "image/png",
        targets: ['apple']
      }
    ],

    apple: {
      statusBarStyle: 'black-translucent'
    }
  }
}

It will generate the following meta tags

index.html

<link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/images/icons/android-chrome-192x192-883114367f2d72fc9a509409454a1e73.png" sizes="192x192">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/images/icons/android-chrome-512x512-af3d768ff652dc2be589a3c22c6dc827.png" sizes="512x512">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-36cba25bc155e8ba414265f9d85861ca.png" sizes="180x180">
<meta name="theme-color" content="#ffa105">
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="Let's Cook">
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent">

and the following manifest.json file

{
  "name": "Let's Cook",
  "short_name": "Let's Cook",
  "description": "An app for organizing your weekly menu and groceries list.",
  "start_url": "/",
  "display": "standalone",
  "background_color": "#ffa105",
  "theme_color": "#ffa105",
  "icons": [
    {
      "src": "/images/icons/android-chrome-192x192-883114367f2d72fc9a509409454a1e73.png",
      "sizes": "192x192",
      "type":"image/png"
    },
    {
      "src": "/images/icons/android-chrome-512x512-af3d768ff652dc2be589a3c22c6dc827.png",
      "sizes": "512x512",
      "type": "image/png"
    }
  ]
}

Configuration

Manifest name

You can set the name of the manifest by adding a configuation option to config/environment.js.

module.exports = function(environment) {
  var ENV = {
    modulePrefix: 'dummy',
    environment: environment,
    rootURL: '/'
    ...
  };

  ENV['ember-web-app'] = {
    name: 'my-awesome-manifest.json'
  };

  return ENV;
};

Disable

You can disable the addon by adding a configuration option to ember-cli-build.js build file.

var EmberApp = require('ember-cli/lib/broccoli/ember-app');

module.exports = function(defaults) {
  var options = {
    'ember-web-app': {
      enabled: false
    }
  };

  var app = new EmberApp(defaults, options);

  return app.toTree();
};

API documentation

This Ember addon generates a Web Application Manifest at build time using the config/manifest.js configuration file.

It also generates some compatibility meta tags for supporting vendor specific web application features like Apple's Web Content For Safari and Microsoft's Browser configuration schema that don't yet support the Web Application Manifest standard.

Internally, this addon takes into account four different types of targets for generating the web app manifest taking care of including some backward compatibility meta tags in order to support as many devices and browsers as possible. These targets are:

• manifest (default target)
• apple (to target iOS devices)
• ms (to target Win8/Win10 devices)
• android (to target options specific for android devices)

Not all targets are used for all properties (actually, most properties are not affected by the targets).

List of supported properties.

• name
• short_name
• background_color
• description
• dir
• display
• icons
• lang
• orientation
• prefer_related_applications
• related_applications
• scope
• start_url
• theme_color
• apple.statusBarStyle

name

Provides a human-readable name for the application as it is intended to be displayed to the user, for example among a list of other applications or as a label for an icon.

Example

manifest.name = "dummy";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "name": "dummy" }
apple	<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="dummy">
ms	<meta name="application-name" content="dummy">
android	does not apply

short_name

Provides a short human-readable name for the application. This is intended for use where there is insufficient space to display the full name of the web application.

Example

manifest.short_name = "dummy";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "short_name": "dummy" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

background_color

Defines the expected background color for the web application.

Example

manifest.background_color = "#fff";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "background_color": "#fff" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

description

Provides a general description of what the web application does.

Example

manifest.description = "Lorem ipsum dolor";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "description": "Lorem ipsum dolor" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

dir

Specifies the primary text direction for the name, short_name, and description members.

Possible values:

• ltr (left-to-right)
• rtl (right-to-left)
• auto

Example

manifest.dir = "ltr";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "dir": "ltr" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

display

Defines the developer's preferred display mode for the web application.

Possible values:

• fullscreen
• standalone
• minimal-ui
• browser

The default value for display is browser when is not defined.

Example

manifest.display = "fullscreen";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "display": "fullscreen" }
apple	<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

Note that for iOS the meta tag will be render with value yes only when display is fullscreen or standalone.

icons

Specifies an array of image objects that can serve as application icons in various contexts. For example, they can be used to represent the web application amongst a list of other applications, or to integrate the web application with an OS's task switcher and/or system preferences.

Image object members:

• src The path to the image file.
• sizes A string containing space-separated image dimensions.
• type A hint as to the media type of the image.
• targets Non standard Targets for the images. ['manifest', 'apple'] by default.

Example

icons: [
  {
    src: '/foo/bar.png',
    sizes: '180x180'
  },
  {
    src: '/bar/baz.png',
    sizes: '280x280',
    targets: ['apple']  // non-standard property
  }
];

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "icons": [ { "src": "/foo/bar.png", "sizes": "180x180" } ] }
apple	<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/foo/bar.png" sizes="180x180"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/foo/bar.png" sizes="280x280">
ms	does not apply (for now)
android	does not apply

lang

Specifies the primary language for the values in the name and short_name members.

Example

manifest.lang = "es-UY";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "lang": "es-UY" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

orientation

Defines the default orientation for all the web application's top level browsing contexts.

Possible values:

• any
• natural
• landscape
• landscape-primary
• landscape-secondary
• portrait
• portrait-primary
• portrait-secondary

Example

manifest.orientation = "portrait";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "orientation": "portrait" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

prefer_related_applications

Specifies a boolean value that hints for the user agent to indicate to the user that the specified related applications are available, and recommended over the web application.

Possible values:

• true
• false

Example

manifest.prefer_related_applications = true;

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "prefer_related_applications": true }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

related_applications

Specifies an array of "application objects" representing native applications that are installable by, or accessible to, the underlying platform.

Application object members:

• platform The platform on which the application can be found.
• url The URL at which the application can be found.
• id The ID used to represent the application on the specified platform.

Example

manifest.prefer_related_applications = true;
manifest.related_applications = [
  {
    "platform": "itunes",
    "url": "https://itunes.apple.com/app/example-app1/id123456789"
  }
];

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "prefer_related_applications": true, "related_applications": [{"platform": "itunes", "url": "https://itunes.apple.com/app/example-app1/id123456789" }] }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

scope

Defines the navigation scope of this web application's application context. This basically restricts what web pages can be viewed while the manifest is applied.

Example

manifest.scope = "/myapp/";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "scope": "/myapp/" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

start_url

Specifies the URL that loads when a user launches the application from a device.

Example

manifest.start_url = "./?utm_source=web_app_manifest";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "start_url": "./?utm_source=web_app_manifest" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

theme_color

Defines the default theme color for an application. This sometimes affects how the application is displayed by the OS.

Example

manifest.theme_color = "aliceblue";

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "theme_color": "aliceblue" }
apple	does not apply
ms	does not apply
android	<meta name="theme-color" content="aliceblue">

Vendor specific properties (non-standard)

apple

Turns on/off the generation of apple specific meta and link tags.

Possible values:

• true Turn on. This is the default value.
• false Turn off.
• An object with custom settings (see the settings below)

Example

manifest.apple = false;

Target	Generates
manifest	{ "apple": false }
apple	returns an empty string
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

apple.statusBarStyle

Sets the style of the status bar for a web application in iOS

See Changing the Status Bar Appearance

Possible values:

• default The status bar appears normal.
• black The status bar has a black background.
• black-translucent The status bar is black and translucent.

Note that if set to default or black, the web content is displayed below the status bar. If set to black-translucent, the web content is displayed on the entire screen, partially obscured by the status bar.

Example

manifest.apple = {
 statusBarStyle: 'black-translucent'
};

Target	Generates
manifest	does not apply
apple	<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent">
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

apple.precomposed

Adds precomposed suffix to apple touch icons

See Precomposed Keyword for apple touch icons

Possible values:

• true Adds precomposed suffix.
• false (default) Does not add precomposed suffix.

Example

manifest.apple = {
 precomposed: 'true'
};

Target	Generates
manifest	does not apply
apple	<link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-192x192.png" sizes="192x192">
ms	does not apply
android	does not apply

Development

$ git clone https://github.com/san650/ember-web-app.git
$ cd $_
$ yarn          # (or npm install)
$ bower install

Running tests

$ npm test

Project's health

License

ember-web-app is licensed under the MIT license.

See LICENSE for the full license text.