Skip to content
Learn Measure Blog Case studies About
On this page
  • How the Lighthouse web app manifest audit fails
  • How to make your PWA installable
  • How to check that your PWA is installable
    • In Chrome
    • In other browsers
  • Resources

Web app manifest does not meet the installability requirements

May 4, 2019 — Updated Jan 25, 2022
Available in: Español, 日本語, 한국어, Português, Русский, 中文, English
Appears in: PWA audits
On this page
  • How the Lighthouse web app manifest audit fails
  • How to make your PWA installable
  • How to check that your PWA is installable
    • In Chrome
    • In other browsers
  • Resources

Installability is a core requirement of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). By prompting users to install your PWA, you allow them to add it to their home screens. Users who add apps to home screens engage with those apps more frequently.

A web app manifest includes key pieces of information required to make your app installable.

How the Lighthouse web app manifest audit fails #

Lighthouse flags pages that don't have a web app manifest that meets minimum requirements for installability:

Lighthouse audit showing user can't install the web app from their home screen

If a page's manifest doesn't include the following properties, it will fail the audit:

  • A short_name or name property
  • An icons property that includes a 192x192 px and a 512x512 px icon
  • A start_url property
  • A display property set to fullscreen, standalone, or minimal-ui
  • A prefer_related_applications property set to a value other than true.

Caution

A web app manifest is necessary for your app to be installable, but it isn't sufficient. To learn how to meet all the requirements for installability, see the Discover what it takes to be installable post.
In the Lighthouse report UI the full PWA badge is given when you pass all of the audits in all of the PWA subcategories (Fast and reliable, Installable, and PWA optimized).

How to make your PWA installable #

Make sure your app has a manifest that meets the criteria above. See Make it installable for more information about creating a PWA.

How to check that your PWA is installable #

In Chrome #

When your app meets the minimum requirements for installability, Chrome fires a beforeinstallprompt event that you can use to prompt the user to install your PWA.

Try it

Learn how to make your app installable in Chrome with the Make it installable codelab.

In other browsers #

Other browsers have different criteria for installation and for triggering the beforeinstallprompt event. Check their respective sites for full details:

  • Edge
  • Firefox
  • Opera
  • Samsung Internet
  • UC Browser

Resources #

  • Source code for Web app manifest does not meet the installability requirements audit
  • Add a web app manifest
  • Discover what it takes to be installable
  • Web App Manifest
  • Does not use HTTPS
Last updated: Jan 25, 2022 — Improve article
Codelabs

See it in action

Learn more and put this guide into action.

  • Make it installable
Return to all articles
Share
subscribe

Contribute

  • File a bug
  • View source

Related content

  • developer.chrome.com
  • Chrome updates
  • Web Fundamentals
  • Case studies
  • Podcasts
  • Shows

Connect

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Google Developers
  • Chrome
  • Firebase
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • All products
  • Terms & Privacy
  • Community Guidelines

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies.