Using Firefox as the WebApp Browser in Omarchy - Solution / Tutorial

[pi-hackr]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share a setup I’ve been using to replace Chromium with Firefox for Omarchy WebApps. This allows me to use a dedicated Firefox profile for WebApps while keeping all Omarchy keybindings and .desktop integrations intact, and gives the added benefit of a minimal, distraction-free UI with tabs, address bar, and toolbars hidden, making WebApps feel more like standalone applications.

1. Modify omarchy-launch-webapp script

The script is usually located at:

~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/omarchy-launch-webapp

Here’s a modified version that redirects WebApp calls to Firefox:

#!/bin/bash

# Redirect standard WebApp calls to Firefox WebApp profile
browser=$(xdg-settings get default-web-browser)

case $browser in
firefox* )
    # Launch Firefox directly with the dedicated WebApp profile
    exec setsid uwsm app -- firefox --no-remote -P "WebApps" --new-window --class WebApp "$1" "${@:2}"
    ;;
*)
    # Old Chromium fallback for other browsers if needed
    browser="chromium.desktop"
    exec setsid uwsm app -- $(sed -n 's/^Exec=\([^ ]*\).*/\1/p' {~/.local,~/.nix-profile,/usr}/share/applications/$browser 2>/dev/null | head -1) --app="$1" "${@:2}"
    ;;
esac

Notes:

• --new-window ensures each WebApp opens in its own window.
• -P "WebApps" specifies the dedicated WebApp profile.
  • This part can be omitted if you don’t need a minimal UI. In that case, you can also skip the next steps (profile creation and CSS).
• --no-remote allows multiple Firefox instances.
• --class WebApp allows custom Hyprland rules for window placement and behavior.
• Existing Omarchy keybindings and .desktop files still work without modification.
• The script will still work even if you revert your default browser back to Chromium.
• Important: Changes in ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/omarchy-launch-webapp may be overwritten during Omarchy updates, so you’ll need to reapply them after updating (at least until this is part of the official releas ;) ).

2. Create a dedicated WebApp profile

If you want a minimal UI for your WebApps, create a Firefox profile:

firefox -P "WebApps" -CreateProfile "WebApps"

• This creates a separate profile called WebApps.
• You can configure userChrome.css and other settings independently.
• You can use Firefox Sync to share history, add-ons, bookmarks, and passwords between your normal profile and the WebApp profile if you want a unified experience.

3. Firefox WebApp Minimal UI (CSS)

Create or edit userChrome.css in the WebApp profile directory (~/.mozilla/firefox/<profile_folder>/chrome/userChrome.css) to hide UI elements:

/* ---- Firefox WebApp Minimal Mode ---- */

/* Hide tabs, address bar, bookmarks, menu bar, status bar, sidebar */
#TabsToolbar,
#nav-bar,
#PersonalToolbar,
#statuspanel,
#sidebar-box {
  visibility: collapse !important;
}

/* Hide title bar (optional for a cleaner window) */
#titlebar {
  visibility: collapse !important;
}

/* Menu bar appears when ALT or F10 is pressed */
:root[sizemode="normal"] #toolbar-menubar {
  visibility: collapse !important;
}
#toolbar-menubar[autohide="false"] {
  visibility: visible !important;
}

Notes:

• for applying the changes you need to enable the custom stylesheets preference in the new profile. Go to about:config in the WebApp profile and set: toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets = true
• This makes Firefox WebApp windows minimal, while still allowing temporary access to the menu bar with Alt or F10.

4. Benefits of this setup

• Full Omarchy integration without changing keybindings or .default files.
• All WebApps run in a separate Firefox profile (WebApps) if desired, or you can use your normal profile.
• Minimal UI for a true app-like experience.
• Optional: Combine with Hyprland window rules for floating, sizing, and centering.
• You can share browsing history, add-ons, bookmarks, and passwords with your main profile via Firefox Sync.
• Works regardless of the default browser, so reverting your default back to Chromium won’t break WebApps.

If anyone has ideas on further improving this setup, I’d love to discuss them!

[shardmods]

you're like, a great person

[iliyan03]

I was just wondering how to do this. Great guide! Many thanks

[xdmx]

Awesome one, thank you for sharing it. The only thing I've noticed is that when I get the dialog for some permissions (location, video/audio, notification, etc) it flickers and I can't interact with it. When I disable the custom style it works, so it seems something related to it. I don't know if it's just me / my machine or others are having the same issue.

[kacperkrolak]

I had the same issue, and I've had a much better experience after replacing my userChrome.css with this file:

https://github.com/MrOtherGuy/firefox-csshacks/blob/master/chrome/autohide_toolbox.css

[codyjgeorge]

I feel like I missed something somewhere. I installed the firefox dev edition. Its extracted in downloads currently. I typed the command in step 2 but it says bash: command not found: firefox however I cd'd into .mozilla/firefox and i can see files there. Did I not install correctly?

I also tried opening firefox dev edition from downloads and setting it as default and still no luck. Can someone point me in the right direction please?

[iliyan03]

Hey, I'm pretty new to Linux, but I'll try to help. The shell can't find the firefox executable because it's directory isn't on your PATH. You can create a symlink to the firefox executable in a directory that is on your PATH, such as /usr/local/bin:
sudo ln -s ~/Downloads/firefox-145.0b6/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/firefox
You may need to change the path to your executable, but in my case it's this. Then you can execute the command mentioned in step 2. You should be be able to run firefox from anywhere.

[codyjgeorge]

Awesome! I'll try this out tonight and see if I can get it working. Thank you! I'll let you know how it goes.

[codyjgeorge]

@iliyan03 I was able to get it working. Thank you for the insight, that fixed my issue and helped me get everything figured out.

[iliyan03]

Glad to hear that!

[Docmos]

Works perfectly. Thanks a lot!

[mnkll]

Did the same but in a separate launch command so updates don't screw me over, and for Firefox fork Zen with Zen Internet Extension for some extra eye candy. Thanks for the userChrome @pi-hackr, spared me some debugging, maybe at some point I'll post the write up, for now the TLDR command order.

This requires the Zen Internet Extension and Zen Mod to be active on your main profile though (or you set them up regularly in GUI for the WEBAPP profile manually):

cat > ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/omarchy-launch-webapp-zen <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
exec setsid uwsm app -- zen-browser --no-remote -P "WebApp" --new-window --class WebApp "$1" "${@:2}"
EOF

chmod +x ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/omarchy-launch-webapp-zen

echo 'unbind = SUPER SHIFT, A' >> ~/.config/hypr/bindings.conf
echo 'bindd = SUPER SHIFT, A, ChatGPT, exec, omarchy-launch-webapp-zen "https://chatgpt.com"' >> ~/.config/hypr/bindings.conf

zen-browser -P "WebApp" -CreateProfile "WebApp"
WEBAPP_PROFILE=$(find ~/.zen -maxdepth 1 -type d -name '*.WebApp' | head -n 1)
DEFAULT_PROFILE=$(find ~/.zen -maxdepth 1 -type d -name '*.Default*' | head -n 1)

cp -r "$DEFAULT_PROFILE/"* "$WEBAPP_PROFILE/" 2>/dev/null || true
mkdir -p "$WEBAPP_PROFILE/chrome"

cat >> "$WEBAPP_PROFILE/user.js" <<'EOF'
user_pref("toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets", true);
user_pref("browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab", true);
user_pref("browser.sessionstore.resume_session_once", true);
user_pref("browser.fullscreen.autohide", true);
user_pref("mod.sameerasw_zen_compact_sidebar_type", "0");
user_pref("zen.view.compact.enable-at-startup", true);
user_pref("zen.welcome-screen.seen", true);
user_pref("zen.widget.linux.transparency", true);
user_pref("ui.systemUsesDarkTheme", 1);
EOF

cat >> "$WEBAPP_PROFILE/chrome/userChrome.css" <<'EOF'
#TabsToolbar,
#nav-bar,
#PersonalToolbar,
#statuspanel,
#sidebar-box {
  visibility: collapse !important;
}
#titlebar {
  visibility: collapse !important;
}
:root[sizemode="normal"] #toolbar-menubar {
  visibility: collapse !important;
}
#toolbar-menubar[autohide="false"] {
  visibility: visible !important;
}
EOF

[mnkll]

This looks like an issue with your hyprland config or window settings. I did not have it since I use the regular omarchy waybar at the top.

[t1nk3sh]

This looks like an issue with your hyprland config or window settings. I did not have it since I use the regular omarchy waybar at the top.

look at this !!

[mnkll]

I thought I had seen a screenshot earlier witnout waybar, sorry.

In that case you're Zen/userchrome settings might differ from mine. All my settings to hide sidebars etc. are the ones I copied in the script above. Most of them come from the OP here.

I think you'll have to find which CSS element is causing this gap and hide it properly.

Have you setup Zen and its mod and extension manually? Might also be related to Zen's transparency settings. And does it occur for your regular browser profile, too?

[t1nk3sh]

I thought I had seen a screenshot earlier witnout waybar, sorry.

In that case you're Zen/userchrome settings might differ from mine. All my settings to hide sidebars etc. are the ones I copied in the script above. Most of them come from the OP here.

I think you'll have to find which CSS element is causing this gap and hide it properly.

Have you setup Zen and its mod and extension manually? Might also be related to Zen's transparency settings. And does it occur for your regular browser profile, too?

In regular browser there is always a address bar in that place.
which extension and setting?
could you please explain?

[mnkll]

Are you using Firefox Browser or Zen Browser?

You need the "Transparent Zen" Zen Browser Mod and its complementary Browser Extension.

EDIT: Your screenshot shows zen, maybe you lack the mod and extension, link here: #2468 (reply in thread)

[dakshcs]

thanks so much!!

[opajanvv]

Awesome! I just added a link this to page in my blog post about replacing Chromium by Firefox.

[little-burrito]

Hello! I'm not at my computer, so I haven't tested this myself, but I think running in kiosk mode might be a nice experience.

Just add the -kiosk argument when opening Firefox.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-enterprise-kiosk-mode

[xdmx]

I think the problem (at least for me) about the kiosk mode is that it'd open the window in fullscreen, which is not always ideal.

I wonder if this could also be a potential alternative (I haven't tried it yet): https://pwasforfirefox.filips.si/

[davilera]

I'm actually using https://pwasforfirefox.filips.si/ in my setup and it's working quite well (even though it's not perfect).

If anyone's interested in knowing how I did it, I basically created my own scripts (similar to those included in Omarchy) to create, delete, and launch Firefox PWAs.

• firefox-webapp-install
• firefox-launch-webapp
• firefox-webapp-remove

[NoahzArkk]

this is awesome, you're awesome man thanks so much!

[4by3]

For me using --class WebApp didn't work however --name WebApp seems to work fine

[nimitbhardwaj]

I also removed chromium and instead installed firefox. But updating into .local/* files will be undone after updates. Will there be a better way for it? I believe this change should be made available in the launch-webapp script only, because its being used at lots of places especially in super+alt+space too, we should change it in the codebase itself.

[Head-Scratches]

Doesn't commiting the changes to .local with gcam solve this? Or am I misunderstanding what gcam actually does?

[opajanvv]

In the meantime, I am considering reinstalling Chromium, or at least a Chromium-based browser that supports the syncing of settings and bookmarks. I am becoming increasingly convinced that Omarchy relies on Chromium being the default browser. I think my love for Omarchy outweighs my love for Firefox, though it still feels somewhat like a betrayal. I realise that I am incurring the scorn of the Firefox adepts by doing this, but well, so be it.

[mksonkar]

I tried doing this, but it comes with so much hassle. You have to install all the extensions again in the new profile. You can't access any extension settings, such as dark reader. You've to login again in all the accounts you want to use such as ChatGPT, Youtube etc...It's double the effort.
So instead of creating a new profile I just use the same default profile but launch it as a new window that doesn't restore when launched again. In compact mode, when I hover on the left side, I can access the sidebar, change or toggle extensions, etc. I'm using zen-browser btw.

EDIT: AFTER NEW ZEN BROWSER UPDATE WITH TAB SYNC ACROSS WINDOWS
(Replace the --new-window flag with the new --blank-window flag introduced in zen version 1.18.6b. This will open the webapp in a new blank window separate from all other tabs including pinned tabs.)

Updated code:

case $browser in

    zen* | firefox* )

        exec setsid uwsm app -- zen-browser --blank-window --no-remote "$1" "${@:2}"
        ;;
esac

[logicsec]

For those using the Zen config above, I would also advise adding in the follow to your profiles CSS to completely remove the sidebar.

#navigator-toolbox[zen-sidebar-expanded="true"] { display: none !important; }

[epicserve]

If I launch Slack with zen-browser --no-remote -P "WebApp" --new-window https://app.slack.com/client/<id>/<another id>/ it works fine but links open in a new tab. If I use Chromium links open in a new Window. What I would really like is for links to open in my main Zen Browser just like if I was using the native Slack app. The reason I'm not using the native app is because I want to use Grammarly.

Ideally anly link but a Slack link opens in my main Zen Browser. If click on a link outside of the Slack WebApp to a Slack link it would open the Slack WebApp.

[atomic-235]

Created wrapper script for that which doesn't require any extension and using tiled fullscreen mode from hyprland https://github.com/atomic-235/hyprland-firefox-pwa