Chrome Webpage – Run as Desktop Application on Ubuntu

gnomegoogle-chromeubuntu-gnome

I am looking to run a couple web pages as desktop applications in Gnome shell. These are the requirements:

  1. It must run with Google Chrome.
  2. It must be available as a separate app icon when pressing Alt+Tab.

I have looked at a program called Webby, but it does not seem to use Google Chrome as the underlying browser. So far I created my .desktop file and have been able to get the application and icon to show in the launcher:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Gmail
Exec=google-chrome-stable --app=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox
Icon=gmail-icon
Type=Application
Categories=GTK;GNOME;Office;

This works and allows me to launch the application in a separate window, however, when I press Alt+Tab everything is still combined under the google chrome icon. I have tried creating a symlink as well for the exec path, this didn't work either. Anyone have any ideas?

Best Answer

This might not be what you're looking for. But if you want to pin a Google Chrome website to the desktop as a web application you can do the following:

  • Click the 3 dots on the top-right corner
  • Click More tools
  • Click Create shortcut...
  • Select the Open as window checkbox

Hope I helped!


Chrome > Version 70

Update for new versions of Chrome, where no Open as window checkbox appears:

  • Click the 3 dots on the top-right corner
  • Click More tools
  • Click Create shortcut...
  • Click Create
  • Navigate to chrome://apps
  • Right-click on the new app
  • Click Open as window
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