instantpwa
Glossary

Definition

name (manifest field)

Short definition

name is a required-in-practice string field in the Web App Manifest that gives the full, human-readable title of the app. Browsers show it on the install dialog, the splash screen and in the OS app switcher. It can be up to 45 characters before some UIs truncate it.

Reviewed July 20, 2026

A manifest can declare name without short_name, but if both are present the browser prefers short_name for space-constrained UI like home-screen labels and falls back to name everywhere else, such as: {"name": "InstantPWA Demo Store", "short_name": "Demo Store"}.

Chromium's install criteria require either name or short_name to be non-empty; an empty string fails validation silently and the install prompt never fires, which is a common debugging trap.

The value is read once at install time on most platforms, so renaming your app later means users with an existing installed icon will not see the new name until they reinstall.

See the MDN Web App Manifest reference for the full field list: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Manifest/name.

Related terms
short_name (manifest field)
short_name is an optional manifest string, typically under 12 characters, used wherever screen space is limited — the home-screen label, the app switcher, or a launcher grid. When short_name is absent the browser falls back to the full name field, which may get truncated with an ellipsis.
Web App Manifest
A Web App Manifest is a JSON file (usually manifest.webmanifest) that declares your app's name, icons, start URL, theme colour and display mode. The browser reads it to render the install prompt and the home-screen icon.
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.
start_url (manifest field)
start_url is the manifest field that sets the exact URL loaded when a user taps the installed app icon. It is resolved relative to the manifest URL, so "start_url": "/?source=pwa" launches the origin root with a query string you can use to distinguish installed-app sessions from browser-tab sessions in analytics.
scope (manifest field)
scope is a manifest field, for example "scope": "/app/", that defines the URL prefix the browser considers part of the installed app. Navigating within scope keeps the app in standalone mode; navigating outside it (such as to an external payment page) typically opens a normal browser tab or an in-app browser bar.
display (manifest field)
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.