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It's a Chrome packaged app, not an extension. It integrates with your OS to function just like any other stand alone application (visible in your native launch

by moxie 11y ago

It's a Chrome packaged app, not an extension. It integrates with your OS to function just like any other stand alone application (visible in your native launcher, etc).

darklajid 11y ago
For a moment I thought you meant that this is similar to say Atom: It's an application that just happens to run in a browser engine. The link in the article points to [1], the Chrome App Store. That in turn presents me a button 'Available on Chrome' and wants me to download that dreaded thing (the browser itself, not some Signal-Using-Chrome-As-Shell bundle) [2]. I admit I don't understand what a Chrome packaged app is, but it seems to require a normal installation of Chrome, going to the 'Chrome App Store' to finally install Signal. That's probably what the OP (and others here) try to say: This isn't a desktop app, it requires an installation of Chrome and then might act like a desktop app if you install it that way, right? 1: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signal-private-messenger/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signal-private-mes... 2: https://www.google.com/chrome/ https://www.google.com/chrome/
- moxie 11y ago
  Correct, you need to have Chrome or Chromium (if you want something fully OSS) installed. Once you do, it functions like a native app (integrates directly with your OS's launcher), rather than like an extension (something attached to a browser window). We might consider distributing it via something like electron in the future, but that's just a matter of packaging.
  - darklajid 11y ago
    Thanks a lot for the confirmation. The Chrom(e|ium) name is tainted for me and while Electron is Chrome I'd be less hesitant to install an 'application' than something that might want to be the default browser or end up being launched by guests / my family. You explained at length on HN that the target demographic doesn't include the random nutjob like me, and I understand that the average person doesn't care (or runs Chrome anyway already): I'm not trying to say that this release, this work is bad - I'm just trying to explain why I'm not putting on my party hat just yet.
turbohedgehog 11y ago
When I pinned this to my taskbar (win 10), it changed the icon from the Signal icon to Chrome icon.
- nachtigall 11y ago
  Does this help you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452941 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452941

by moxie 11y ago

It's a Chrome packaged app, not an extension. It integrates with your OS to function just like any other stand alone application (visible in your native launcher, etc).

darklajid 11y ago

For a moment I thought you meant that this is similar to say Atom: It's an application that just happens to run in a browser engine. The link in the article points to [1], the Chrome App Store. That in turn presents me a button 'Available on Chrome' and wants me to download that dreaded thing (the browser itself, not some Signal-Using-Chrome-As-Shell bundle) [2]. I admit I don't understand what a Chrome packaged app is, but it seems to require a normal installation of Chrome, going to the 'Chrome App Store' to finally install Signal. That's probably what the OP (and others here) try to say: This isn't a desktop app, it requires an installation of Chrome and then might act like a desktop app if you install it that way, right? 1: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signal-private-messenger/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signal-private-mes... 2: https://www.google.com/chrome/ https://www.google.com/chrome/

moxie 11y ago
Correct, you need to have Chrome or Chromium (if you want something fully OSS) installed. Once you do, it functions like a native app (integrates directly with your OS's launcher), rather than like an extension (something attached to a browser window). We might consider distributing it via something like electron in the future, but that's just a matter of packaging.
- darklajid 11y ago
  Thanks a lot for the confirmation. The Chrom(e|ium) name is tainted for me and while Electron is Chrome I'd be less hesitant to install an 'application' than something that might want to be the default browser or end up being launched by guests / my family. You explained at length on HN that the target demographic doesn't include the random nutjob like me, and I understand that the average person doesn't care (or runs Chrome anyway already): I'm not trying to say that this release, this work is bad - I'm just trying to explain why I'm not putting on my party hat just yet.

turbohedgehog 11y ago

When I pinned this to my taskbar (win 10), it changed the icon from the Signal icon to Chrome icon.

nachtigall 11y ago
Does this help you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452941 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452941