Occasionally, I have a desire to run a web-based tool without the distracting elements around the window that the browser brings with it (tabs, menus, location bar - basically all the things that are great in a general-purpose browser experience but are just getting in the way in a purely application focused setting). My prime example of this is Google Tasks - since I'm terrible at focusing on just the job in hand, I like using a task list, and Google Tasks are free and protable. But that interface on the side of the Google Calendar view? Not helpful if I just want the task list to stand out. Happily, there is a more narrowed-down view available via:
(Taskboard is a third-party interface to the Google Tasks: it's not a Google thing)
Which is good, but still has all that general purpose browser stuff around it. To get a really slimmed down look, using Chrome, you can:
You'll now have a desktop shortcut that opens just the web page, without all the clutter around it, so it has more of the look-and-feel of a normal application
(Edit To Add: some web applications have taken this idea and properly wrapped it up for the user, and offer an Install as App option under the Save and Share entry - which seems to do the same job but more neatly!)
Niall H. , Apr 2024