This has been bugging me for a while, and despite googling around, I cannot seem to even find an explanation as to why the "Create Application Shortcut" is disabled.
6 Answers
Unfortunately, the answer to your question is "you can't," and the reason is "because Google says so.
http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95710 says
This feature is only available for Google Chrome on Windows and Linux.
but there is no real explanation as to why. Nor have I found one anywhere else. It seems like an oft-requested feature, but I've never seen Google even suggest that they are planning to add it (although I presume/hope that they will).
Alternative Solution: If you are interested in creating site-specific browsers on Mac OS X, Fluid.app works great, but (IIRC) it is based on Webkit, not Chrome.
2013-06-27: Turns out there is a way to make Chrome SSBs on the Mac, although it's a little convoluted.
The instructions are too long to replicate here, and there is a shell script and/or AppleScript involved. You can find both of them at http://www.lessannoyingsoftware.com/blog/2010/08/149/Create+application+shortcuts+in+Google+Chrome+on+a+Mac
LifeHacker covered this as well, and created a video to go along with it. You can find that at: http://lifehacker.com/5611711/create-application-shortcuts-in-google-chrome-for-mac-with-a-shell-script
-
Thanks! I hadn't used Fluid before, but now I'll use it for other things too. Nov 2, 2012 at 21:48
-
1Nitpick: Chrome is Webkit-based, as is Safari (and therefore Fluid). What you don't get in Fluid is Chrome's JavaScript engine. Jun 26, 2013 at 17:49
-
Wish I knew why it's not being enabled in Mac OS X. I really miss it, coming from Ubuntu. Jan 9, 2014 at 20:08
-
Actually, chrome uses blink which was forked from webkit a bit ago Aug 5, 2015 at 0:23
Applicationize
An open-source, free service I built that replicates the "Create Application Shortcuts" behavior on Mac by generating a Chrome extension of your favorite website on-the-fly that opens in its own window with its own dock icon!
http://eladnava.com/create-application-shortcuts-on-mac-with-applicationize/
There have been google suppor threads where a "rep" does state that this feature is in the works. It once was pegged at 2 months, or perhaps 2 weeks, I can't remember. That was over a year ago.
I suspect it is not a very high priority with so few users even knowing what it would be good for. I had a PC/Windows using friend try it out, not only couldn't he figure out how to set it up, but couldn't think of a good reason why it would be a great idea.
All the while, he was clicking away and mousing away with his 1900 button mouse that he loves so much. :)
-
1Welcome to Ask Different! Thanks for posting an answer! Can you please add more sources? For instance, can you link to the Google support threads that you talked about? Thanks so much! Mar 20, 2012 at 21:05
-
productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/chrome/… shows a request made on Dec 20, 2009 and "Blair The Bear" (who is identified as a "Googler") said on June 29, 2010: "We're working on this feature and it should be out later this year. Thanks for all of your feedback." Blair also marked it as the best answer. I wonder where Blair has been for the past three years. Perhaps a case of prolonged hibernation.– TJ LuomaJun 27, 2013 at 19:23
Fluid.app is a third-party app which provides this feature. It works great, and the free version has enough features. You can set global shortcuts, custom app icons, and lots of other stuff.
I think the idea is that the website author creates an "app" in the Chrome Web Store, and then you can install that app within Chrome, and then when you open it, it opens in it's own window, with it's own icon in the dock etc.
Or you can create an electron "app" from the website.
Not nearly as simple as it should be with Chrome, but https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier makes it a bit easier.
