Windows 8 Pin METAs
Windows 8 allows for adding websites as apps (or maybe "bookmarks" is a better term) to the home screen, much in the vein that iOS allows users to do the same. Like iOS devices, Windows 8 allows users to accomplish this same task using custom META tags embedded within the page HTML:
<meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#FF0000" />
<meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="/windows8-icon.png" />
The image size should be 144x144 and you'll want to define a custom background color with the META tag above. Tags like these are invaluable -- very little HTML to add but a giant convenience to users. Remember that the easier it is to get to your site, the more likely they will come back often!
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I wonder if there are HTTP headers that allows to do the same.
How do you actually go about adding the website as an app in windows 8?
Even though we *can* do this… it really bugs me that we have 8 different ways to set this kind of stuff per browser/device.
IMHO, it would have been much better if all browsers used the same “link” “favicon” in PNG/GIF/JPG format… and it had attributes for different size icons (device/browser to choose the best size for its needs)
Instead we have IE searching the at the server root for an icon in *.ico format, special meta tags for iOS, different tags for Windows8, etc. From a *lightweight* mobile perspective… cramming umpteen meta tags in to handle all the potential devices is totally counter productive!
Oh well… I guess this is progress!
why iOS allows users to do the same.
I agree with Stephen, with every other OS and social media site adding their own meta tags it’s bloating up the element.
That should have read head element.