Adding Protocol Schemes to Chromium

Previously, I’ve written a lot about Application Protocols, which are a simple and popular common mechanism for browsers to send a short string of data out to an external application for handling. For instance, mailto is a common example of a scheme treated as an Application Protocol; if you invoke mailto:someone@somewhere.com, the browser will convertContinue reading “Adding Protocol Schemes to Chromium”

Web-to-App Communication: The Native Messaging API

Note: This post is part of a series about Web-to-App Communication techniques. One of the most powerful mechanisms for Web-to-App and App-To-Web communication is to use an extension that utilizes the NativeMessaging API. The NativeMessaging API allows an extension running inside the browser to exchange messages with a native-code “Host” executable running outside of the browserContinue reading “Web-to-App Communication: The Native Messaging API”

App-to-Web Communication: Launching Web Apps

In recent posts, I’ve explored mechanisms to communicate from web content to local (native) apps, and I explained how web apps can use the HTML5 registerProtocolHandler API to allow launching them from either local apps or other websites. In today’s post, we’ll explore how local apps can launch web apps in the browser. It’s Simple…Continue reading “App-to-Web Communication: Launching Web Apps”

AppOrWeb-to-WebApp Communication: Custom Scheme Handlers

I’ve previously written about Web-to-App communication via Application Protocols. App Protocols allow web content to invoke a native application outside of the browser. WebApp advocates (like me!) want to continue to close the native/browser gaps that prevent web applications from becoming full-fledged replacements for native apps. To that end, I’ve recently spent some time lookingContinue reading “AppOrWeb-to-WebApp Communication: Custom Scheme Handlers”