Additional Windowing Controls

Category: Capabilities (Fugu)
Type: New or changed feature
Status: In developer trial (Behind a flag) (Chrome 154)
Intent stage: Start incubating

Summary

Enable web applications to maximize, minimize, and restore their windows, control whether the window can be resized, and introspect the corresponding window state. The Window Management permission is required for new JS API controls (window.maximize()/minimize()/restore()/setResizable(bool)). The new CSS media features display-state and resizable are not gated behind a permission as they can follow the non-AWC API toggled states as well. This feature is an enhancement of the Window Management API: https://chromestatus.com/feature/5252960583942144

Motivation

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) web clients have limited abilities to integrate remote application windows with the local desktop environment, which creates suboptimal experiences for their users. Currently, they can only present full disjoint remote desktop environments (e.g. in a local fullscreen window), or present individual remote applications in separate local windows with titlebar window controls that are inoperative, redundant, and confusing for users.

Standards & signals

Specification: https://www.w3.org/TR/window-management/#api-window-minimize-method
Firefox: No signal — Host Specification
Safari: No signal — Host Specification
Web developers: Positive — From VDI web client partners (Citrix & VMware) - the feature is needed by them for single application streaming using web technologies. https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-virtual-apps-desktops/seamless.html
Tracking bug: https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40192345

Samples: https://awc-demo-4a08a808.web.app

Explainers: https://github.com/w3c/window-management/blob/main/EXPLAINER_additional_windowing_controls.md

View on chromestatus.com