Tried testing the issue on chrome reported version# 70.0.3538.77 using Windows-10 with steps mentioned below:
1) Launched chrome reported version, created a shortcut from three dot menu from right top, shortcut created successfully on desktop
2) Double clicked on the desktop shortcut, shortcut opened in chrome window(find attached screencsat for the same).
Observations: Tested the issue on Windows-10 OS version 1709 and 1803, seen same behavior on both the versions.

@Reporter: Please find the attached screencsat for your reference and let us know if we missed anything in reproducing the issue, provide your feedback on it which help in further triaging it.

Thanks!

Deleted: 899054.mp4 4.9 MB

	899054.mp4 4.9 MB View Download

That is exactly what I am seeing.

I originally thought it was because I upgraded to Windows 10 1803 but my co-workers computer is 1703 and I think your computer in the video was 1709.

Thanks!

Thank you for providing more feedback. Adding the requester to the cc list.

For more details visit https://www.chromium.org/issue-tracking/autotriage - Your friendly Sheriffbot

I am having the exact same issue on Linux.

Ubuntu 18.10
google-chrome-stable 70.0.3538.77-1

glumlord: Thanks for your feedback!

@Reporter: If possible could you please provide the screencast of the issue which help in better understanding it and help in further triaging it in better way.

Thanks!

I have the same problem, my shortcuts pinned to the Windows taskbar now open in the main chrome window, instead of opening a dedicated window without an address bar as before.

I tried recreating the shortcuts, but the issue persists.

To: viswa.karala@chromium.org 

Even the screencast you posted reproduces the problem, so there is no need to ask for additional screencasts.

The problem is that it opens the shortcut in a regular Chrome window, as a tab, instead of opening a dedicated Chrome window without tabs and without an address bar, as it did before.

While the feature technically still "works", it has become useless for me, and if the change is not reverted I'll switch to other browsers that support this functionality properly.

And sorry about adding so many comments, but in my case there was no Windows Update involved, it was probably the last automatic Chrome update.

This morning I just tried to open the shortcuts pinned to the Windows taskbar that worked fine last week, I clicked them multiple times because their dedicated windows didn't open as before.

Then I noticed I have 5 regular Chrome windows open instead, with two tabs each: one tab with a site I last have opened in Chrome, and one tab with the URL from the shortcut.

After closing those tabs and the windows manually, now the behavior is similar: clicking the shortcuts still opens regular Chrome windows with two tabs: a "new tab", and a tab for URL of the shortcut.

This behavior is identical to what happens in the screencast from Viswa Karala on the last attempt to use the shortcut.

I'm using Windows 10 Pro 1803 10.0.17134.345 and Chrome version 70.0.3538.77 (Official Build) (64-bit).

Sadly, it seems that right now the only browser where this feature works close enough to what I need is Internet Explorer.

So, until this is fixed, which I have reason to believe will be "never", I will have to use Internet Explorer for pinning sites to the Windows taskbar.

The app shortcuts created by Internet Explorer open in dedicated browser windows that don't interfere with the other browser windows in any way, and when pinned to the Windows taskbar they show as active when their associated window is open.

They still have tabs and an address bar, but since the Internet Explorer UI is very compact compared to other browsers, it's not a big issue.

I'll create a screencast demonstrating how the Internet Explorer app shortcuts work very nicely, while the Chrome shortcuts are a horrible mess the latest Chrome update, especially when the "continue where you left" option is enabled.

The first part of the video will show Internet Explorer apps, working similarly to how the Chrome app shortcuts worked in the previous Chrome versions. Then, in the second part, I will show how poorly the Chrome shortcuts behave now.

Since the screencast is larger than 10 MB I had to share it from my OneDrive account:

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AIVSENU2LZflTh8&cid=D652E988DB742907&id=D652E988DB742907%211109323&parId=D652E988DB742907%211109322&action=locate

I really hate how the recent trend in software development is to remove useful features and replace them with half-backed alternatives, if at all.

With the way things are going, I'm half-seriously thinking about switching my job to something that doesn't involve using computers. And I'm saying that as a software developer.

I'm guessing you removed the old Chrome feature and replaced it with this new useless "Create shortcut" feature to force people to use PWAs (progressive web apps) as an alternative. If that's indeed the reason, all I can say is to whoever took that decision is: "Shame! Shame! Shame!".

What makes you think that this was intentional, and not a bug?

If it's a bug it will get fixed, you are being very dramatic for what seems to be a bug that was discovered less than a week ago.

Have faith bud, they will get it all worked out.  😀

Thank you for providing more feedback. Adding the requester to the cc list.

For more details visit https://www.chromium.org/issue-tracking/autotriage - Your friendly Sheriffbot

@gluml... yeah, I agree I was a bit too dramatic, and I apologize if I offended anyone. I am sometimes overly pessimistic, and I really hope that I'm wrong and you are right.

It's just that, for example, with almost every major Windows update features are being removed and bugs introduced and then not fixed for years, which is why I started to delay installing Windows feature updates as much as possible.

And it's not just Windows, it seems to be a general trend. So, instead of spending my time fixing bugs in my code and creating features for my employers, I have to lose hours finding workarounds for bugs and other regressions in software that should just work, like browsers and operating systems.

I guess I'm just getting too old for this stuff.

Able to reproduce the issue on chrome reported version# 70.0.3538.77 and on latest chrome# 72.0.3595.0 using Windows-10, and Ubuntu 14.04. As this issue is seen from M-60(60.0.3112.0), hence considering this issue as Non-Regression and marking it as Untriaged.

Thanks!

Any movement on this? Just auto-updated to 70.0.3538.77 and ran smack dab in to this issue.

@ viswa.karala@chromium.org

I'm not sure how exactly where you are able to reproduce this in older versions like 60.0, since as a regular Chrome user I'm not able to test older versions, but I can tell you that one week before this issue was reported this issue was not reproducible in the Chrome builds released to regular Chrome users.

Have you tried to test it with versions like 69.xxxx or 68.xxxx?

A week before this bug was reported it this feature was working just fine, the app shortcuts were being opened in dedicated Windows 10 windows, that were showing as active correctly when pinned to the Windows 10 taskbar.

They worked just like any other app pinned to the Windows 10 taskbar, and were completely independent of other Chrome windows from the Windows 10 UI point of view.

So, could you please change your mind and consider this a regression, since it is indeed a regression? Thanks.

Adding a tags and assigning tentatively to calamity@, as think they have experience with Windows wonkiness around shortcuts (ref: https://codereview.chromium.org/2851303005)

@vladnc@gmail.com: Have you tried going to chrome://apps, right clicking the app and switching it to Open in a window?

@ calamity@google.com I tried, after reading the suggestion on a blog, but unfortunately there is no such option when I right click the shortcuts:

https://i.imgur.com/WG6HhbX.png

And, in my opinion, I shouldn't have to do that anyway, even if the option was available. That should be the default behavior, like it was in the past.

I'm currently on 70.0.3538.102 (Official Build) (64-bit)

#21: Well, to be fair, if you want to talk about 'as it was in the past', the Open as tab option was the default first.

Source: I changed it to window. https://codereview.chromium.org/2922633002


It's _very_ weird that there's no option to change to Open as Window for a "Create shortcut" app. That menu is also missing other buttons. Are you working in a managed environment with an enterprise policy perhaps? Maybe that setting has been disabled by your administrator.

#22 No, no managed environment. But now I tested on my Windows 10 tablet, and the options are indeed available there, even for manually created shortcuts.

On the computer where the options were missing I deleted and re-created the affected shortcut, and now the missing options became available for that shortcut as well. And with the option to open in new window enabled, the old behavior is working again properly for that shortcut.

However, my other old shortcuts, that I didn't re-create yet, still have the problem with the missing options in the context menu. I'm sure they will work fine after I re-create all of them.

And I'm certain that in the past this was the default option, I never had to use chrome://apps/ to enable this behavior. Maybe there was some difference in the past between Chrome and Chromium regarding that default.

Anyway, thanks for pointing this out, now I can use Chrome again.

Yes, the default used to be "Open as window". It changed for Chrome 70. It's getting changed back next release, but these things take time to roll out.

It's very confusing that you don't have the options without recreating. Did you make those shortcuts a long long time ago?

Either way, I guess I'll close this as WontFix. The workaround is to recreate the shortcut, go to chrome://apps and right click and set 'Open as Window'.

The shortcuts were created in the last year and a half since I bought my computer. I don't remember exactly when I created the first one. I think I created the last shortcut affected by the issue about 2 or 3 months ago.

If anyone is still affected by the missing options, you may have to manually remove the affected "apps" from chrome://apps before re-creating them, not just from the AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Chrome Apps user folder.

#25: Acknowledged, thanks.