App available?

[Gary R. Smith]

At the top of my browser there is an icon suggesting that there is an app available for RPF. What's that all about and is anyone using it? I seem to have lost all ability to use the formatting tools that were previously available via the icons along the top of the message space.

 

[Pete Askew]

I’m not aware of an app for RPF unless XenForo have produced something. However, I don’t see an icon in either DuckDuckGo or Safari.

Formatting tools like bold, italic and coloured work for me as well as

centred and​

right​

etc.

What browser are you using?

 

[Gianluca Drago]

This text is extremely bold, not only in italics, unquestionably underlined, spectacularly struck through, oddly monospaced, dramatically red.

It is pointless and yet still totally right.​

 

[Gary R. Smith]

What browser are you using?

hmmm, if I use Google Chrome, I have all of the editing capabilities however if I use the MSFT Edge browser I do not. Guess I'll switch back to Chrome for this site. However, both Edge and Chrome show that there is an app available.


Also, if I use Edge, I can enlarge images in the post but if I use Chrome, the upper right corner of the image doesn't give me that option.

 

[Pete Askew]

They’re either 'making it up' or it’s an app that just runs a shell containing a link to the site.

I cannot find an app on either the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

They’re either 'making it up'

I didn't want to click on an unknown link to put something on my machine that was possibly questionable.
I have never encountered a web page suggesting an app for something that is clearly driven by html.

 

[Pete Askew]

Me neither.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

I didn't want to click on an unknown link to put something on my machine that was possibly questionable.
I have never encountered a web page suggesting an app for something that is clearly driven by html.

@Gary R. Smith: I don't use Microsoft Edge, but did a little research about this 'app' thing, and this is what I found.

What you're seeing in Microsoft Edge is perfectly normal. When Edge determines that a website is an installable Progressive Web App (PWA), the "App available" icon appears in the Address bar.

Progressive Web Apps are applications built using web technologies that can be installed and run on all devices, Edge is letting you know that you can install the Real Photographers Forum as if it were a regular Windows app. If you install it, the forum would:

- Open in its own window (without browser toolbars)
- Appear in your Start menu
- Show up in your taskbar like other apps
- Work like a native Windows application

It's a convenience feature - it won't change how the website works, just how you access it. If you prefer using a regular browser tab, you can simply ignore the icon.

Here's the official Microsoft documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/progressive-web-apps/ux
This page explains all about how PWAs work in Edge and how to install/manage them if you're interested.

And here's an 'Overview of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)': https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/progressive-web-apps/

 

[Pete Askew]

Thank you, Gianluca. As ‘admin’, that is what I should have done / known! I was planning to ask support at XenForo about it later today along with a couple of other minor matters.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Thanks Gianluca! I'd never heard of such a thing.
It shows up on both Edge and Chrome browsers.