FYI: Remove the service worker requirement for WebAPKs

[Ella Ge]

Hi blink-dev,

We are experimenting with removing the service worker requirement for installing PWAs on Android. Websites will no longer need to have service worker and offline support to be installed.

Context:

Chrome for Android offers to install a website when the site meets the install-criterias.

The Mobile Web Install team is intending to move the two requirements: (1) a Web App Manifest populated with a particular set of fields, and (2) an active service worker that is able to issue an HTTP 200 response when no network connectivity is available.

In particular, the service worker requirement has led to a number of websites implementing otherwise empty, non-functional service workers, which slows down the Web.

We are running the experiment of removing the service worker requirement on Canary/Dev on M103 and planning to roll out to Beta/Stable.

--

Ella Ge

[Ella Ge]

Launch bug: crbug.com/1325327