In Chapter 2, Getting Started with Webpack, when we set up our Webpack build configuration, we ensured that our build process generated an asset manifest, with the filename asset-manifest.json
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This file contains a list of the JavaScript files our application uses. If we want to, we can configure it to also list the CSS and image files we use.
This asset manifest gives us an idea of what manifests are used for--describing some part of application. Our web app manifest is similar, but simply describes what our application is all about from a higher level, in a way that resembles an App Store description of a native app.
That's what it looks like, and we'll dive more into that soon as we build out our file, but the real magic of the web app manifest is what it does.
On some browsers (more on that later in the chapter), if your web application includes a proper web app manifest, the user can choose to save the web page to their home screen, where it will appear like a regular...