Microsoft Edge now lets you launch PWAs from the favorites bar

By Sean Endicott
published

Microsoft is rolling out improvements to the Progressive Web App experience in Edge.

Microsoft Edge Update Dev New
Microsoft Edge Update Dev New (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft recently released an update that brings Edge to version 101.
  • The update adds the ability to launch Progressive Web Apps from the favorites bar.
  • Edge also gained the option to set a default profile rather than having the browser open with the most recent profile that was used.

Microsoft Edge version 101 is now available through the stable channel. The latest version of the browser includes the option to set a default profile and adds the ability to launch Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) from the favorites bar.

Before this update, Edge would open with the most recent profile that was used. Adding support for a default profile should reduce the need for profile switching.

Here are the feature updates from the changelog for Edge version 101.0.1210.32:

  • Ability to set the default profile. The EdgeDefaultProfileEnabled policy will let you set a default profile to use when opening the browser instead of the last profile that was used. This policy won't be applicable if the --profile-directory parameter has been specified.
  • Client Certificate Switcher. This feature will offer a way for users to clear the remembered certificate and resurface the certificate picker when visiting a site that requires HTTP certificate authentication. This can be done without manually quitting Microsoft Edge.
  • Launch Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) from the favorites bar. Improvements to the PWA launch experience will start appearing with an Apps icon that can be added to the toolbar.
  • Manage the "Allow extensions from other stores" setting. Now you can use the ControlDefaultStateOfAllowExtensionFromOtherStoresSettingEnabled policy to set the default state of the "Allow extensions from other stores" setting.
  • Improvements to the Enterprise Site List Manager. Now you can configure shared cookies between Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer on your enterprise site list. You can access the Enterprise Site List Manager at edge://compat/SiteListManager.

You can read all of the policy changes, deprecated policies, and obsoleted policies on Microsoft's website (opens in new tab).

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Microsoft Edge

Edge is Microsoft's own browser built with Chromium. The latest version of Edge adds the ability to launch PWAs from the favorites bar.

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

3 Comments
  • "The update adds the ability to launch Progressive Web Apps from the favorites bar." What does this mean? PWAs are website and could always be launched from the bookmark bar, just click on them. Thanks. Big fan of Edge's Web App/PWA support. It's much superior to Chrome's lacklustre approach, never understood why "Create Shortcut" is hidden under More Tools. Dumb.
  • > What does this mean?
    > PWAs are website and could always be launched from the bookmark bar, just click on them.
    > Thanks. No they couldn't, it was a 2-step process; open the web(page)app, then in the address bar, click on the little 'PWA icon' to launch a 'native-esque' PWA.
  • I think this is a typo in the release notes, they actually refer to the toolbar and not the favorites bar, I mean, you can open the new PWA hub with the toolbar button and from there launch PWAs. The option to launch PWAs from the favorites bar isn't even available in Canary.