Bug 272391 – There is no "prefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden" control for PWAs

• Status: RESOLVED
• Resolution: INVALID
• Component: WebKit Misc.

[Jeffrey Blanz]

The prefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden instance property is used to make it so a user has to swipe out of an application twice. This is nice for games that are in fullscreen because accidental swipes can close the PWA.

This is also useful for videos as the home bar gets in the way when watching videos in fullscreen on safari or in PWAs.

This is the official Apple Developer UIKit link to the instance property:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiviewcontroller/2887510-prefershomeindicatorautohidden

[Marcos Caceres]

I don't think there is anything in the web platform that provides this capability (plus would need to be universal for all web applications, not tied to something proprietary). This is something that would need to be formally standardized at the W3C. 

Jeffrey, would you mind filling it as proposal at:
https://github.com/wicg/proposals

Closing for now as there is not much we can do without some kind of standard.

[Jeffrey Blanz]

(In reply to Marcos Caceres from comment #1)
> I don't think there is anything in the web platform that provides this
> capability (plus would need to be universal for all web applications, not
> tied to something proprietary). This is something that would need to be
> formally standardized at the W3C. 
> 
> Jeffrey, would you mind filling it as proposal at:
> https://github.com/wicg/proposals
> 
> Closing for now as there is not much we can do without some kind of standard.

I just filled out a proposal here:

https://github.com/WICG/proposals/issues/146

[Jeffrey Blanz]

Could the PrefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden be automatically enabled in the Safari app when Fullscreen API is enabled for iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and visionOS?

This is assuming the actual Safari application can use the “PrefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden” instance property like a normal application can. Vs obviously WebKit cannot use the property since it does not exist for web platforms.

[Marcos Caceres]

(In reply to Jeffrey Blanz from comment #3)
> Could the PrefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden be automatically enabled in the
> Safari app when Fullscreen API is enabled for iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and
> visionOS?
> 
> This is assuming the actual Safari application can use the
> “PrefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden” instance property like a normal application
> can. Vs obviously WebKit cannot use the property since it does not exist for
> web platforms.

Unfortunately Safari things are out of scope of WebKit.