Let's break down your issue, answer your key question, and confirm the solution you discovered:

Is .well-known/assetlinks.json required for getInstalledRelatedApps()? #

Short answer: No, not for web-only apps. That file exists primarily to link native mobile apps (like Android APKs) to web apps for cross-app permissions or deep linking. For standalone web apps, the critical configuration that enables this API is in your Web App Manifest's related_applications field.

Why your API call was returning an empty array #

The root problem was a misconfiguration in your Manifest's related_applications section. You originally set the url field to point directly to your Manifest file ("/_new/manifest.json"), but the web app spec requires this value to be the root path of your web app (like "/") instead of the specific Manifest URL.

Original (broken) configuration: #

"related_applications": [ { 
  "id": "https://www.swisswebcams.ch/", 
  "platform": "webapp", 
  "url": "/_new/manifest.json" 
} ]

Fixed configuration: #

"related_applications": [ { 
  "id": "https://www.swisswebcams.ch/", 
  "platform": "webapp", 
  "url": "/" 
} ]

How to verify the fix #

1. Confirm your web app is properly installed via Chrome (check your Windows 11 Start Menu or Chrome's "Installed apps" list)
2. Run this code in the browser console to validate:

if('getInstalledRelatedApps' in navigator) {
  navigator.getInstalledRelatedApps().then(apps => console.warn(apps));
}

After updating the Manifest, you'll see your installed web app appear in the returned array.

Quick checks to avoid future issues #

• Your Chrome version (146.0.7680.178) fully supports the getInstalledRelatedApps() API
• Your site runs over HTTPS (a hard requirement for this API to function)
• Ensure the id in your Manifest matches the id in related_applications (your setup here is valid, since "/" resolves to the full site URL)

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Simon Ferndriger