A way for `chrome.windows.create()` to set normal position with minimized/maximized windows, used when the user restores the window

[tophf]

Currently it's impossible and the documentation says:

state
The minimized, maximized and, fullscreen states cannot be combined with left, top, width, or height.

Adding a new property like normalPosition: {left, top, right, bottom} that can be specified in create() along with any non-normal state will provide a better user experience, automatically providing the preferred position and avoiding a very disruptive flicker if the user enables the extension to resize/move the window to the intended placement after the extension detected the change in window state.

Implementation

• Windows has a dedicated SetWindowPlacement API for just that, which is already used in Chromium and Firefox.

• Linux and others would probably need the browser to observe the window state change and apply the position explicitly (shouldn't introduce flicker due to minimal delays in native API usage unlike when the extension does it via IPC and potentially waking up the background script). Some desktop environments may already remember the preferred normal position automatically by identifying the windows by title or whatever.

[tophf]

[simeon] motivating use cases

Providing the historic level of comfort of native apps in Windows for browser extensions that allow the user to open a window to do something, the inside could be an extension page e.g. an editor for notes/userscripts or a web page. The extension wants to remember both the position and window state (maximized/fullscreen, primarily) every time the user repositions the window and use it the next time the user tells the extension to open the window.

[timothy] Would prefer left/top/right/bottom to do the right thing instead of adding another thing that does something similar as the existing.

I agree but it might be confusing since left/top/right/bottom always reflect the maximized window's coords in APIs that report the window's props like getXXX() and onXXX events.