Definition

display (manifest field)

Short definition

display is the manifest field that chooses the browser chrome level for the installed app. Accepted values are fullscreen, standalone, minimal-ui and browser. "display": "standalone" is the most common choice because it hides the address bar and tab strip while keeping the OS status bar visible.

Reviewed July 21, 2026

fullscreen hides every browser UI element including the OS status bar and is mainly used by games; most content and utility apps should avoid it because it hides the clock and battery indicator users expect.

minimal-ui, which shows a reduced navigation bar with a back button, is only honoured by some Chromium-based browsers and falls back to standalone or browser elsewhere.

Chromium requires display to be standalone, fullscreen, minimal-ui or a value handled by display_override for the site to qualify for the install prompt at all — "browser" is treated as "not installable".

You can verify which mode actually applied at runtime with window.matchMedia("(display-mode: standalone)").matches, since the requested value in the manifest is only ever a hint the OS may downgrade.

Related terms

display_override (manifest field)

display_override is a manifest array, for example "display_override": ["window-controls-overlay", "standalone"], that lets a site opt into newer or experimental display modes such as window-controls-overlay on desktop, while still declaring a safe fallback. The browser walks the list in order and uses the first mode it understands.

Standalone display mode

Standalone is a value of the display field in a Web App Manifest. It tells the browser to launch the PWA in its own window with no address bar or tabs, so it looks and behaves like a native app. It is the most common display mode for installable PWAs.

display-mode media query

display-mode is a CSS media feature, usable both in stylesheets (@media (display-mode: standalone) { ... }) and in JavaScript via window.matchMedia("(display-mode: standalone)").matches, that reports which of browser, minimal-ui, standalone or fullscreen is currently applied to the page — regardless of what the manifest requested, since the OS can downgrade the requested mode.

theme_color (manifest field)

theme_color is a manifest field, e.g. "theme_color": "#0f172a", that tints the Android status bar, the task-switcher card header and, on some platforms, the browser toolbar while the site is open. It accepts any valid CSS colour value.

background_color (manifest field)

background_color is a manifest field, for example "background_color": "#ffffff", used only for the auto-generated splash screen Android and Chromium OS show between tapping the app icon and the first paint. It should match your page's actual background to avoid a visible colour flash.

icons (manifest field)

icons is a manifest array of objects like {"src": "/icon-512.png", "sizes": "512x512", "type": "image/png"}. Chromium requires at least a 192x192 and a 512x512 PNG for install eligibility; the browser picks the closest size for each surface (home screen, splash screen, task switcher) rather than scaling a single image.