However, if just to login in some application, it would be awful UX if going to the login step in an application triggers an unwanted load of 3 desktops full of 20 browser windows and a few hundred tabs, and some minutes delay while they all start up.
So if I'm not already running the "full browser" required for auth, ideally for authentication I'm going to want it to launch an "alternate profile" instance of my full browser which doesn't include all the other tabs or normal user info.
I.e. the browser should somehow be able to load just one special window for this application, and remember that it hasn't actually loaded my regular profile and saved state yet.
Clicking on any links for info that is logically "outside the application", that's what should probably lead to a regular full browser being started.
In the end, this ideal browser behaviour in response to an application requesting Google auth is much the same as using an embedded web view - except running separately from the application for security purposes so that it's UI isn't subject to application interference.
Given that's just a web view with security properties, why not instead allow auth to launch a "security instance" version of an embedded web view, one that is subject to guarantees from the OS/GUI security systems that it is running independently from the application which triggered its launch?
On Android, there's a feature called Chrome Custom Tabs (despite the name, it works with other browsers as well) which basically opens the default browser window in a restricted UI without most of the chrome and tabs. It shares the state and extensions though and it's meant as a replacement for these exact banned flows (on Android, webview logins are banned for years now).
I wonder if such interface could be exposed for desktop browsers.
However, if just to login in some application, it would be awful UX if going to the login step in an application triggers an unwanted load of 3 desktops full of 20 browser windows and a few hundred tabs, and some minutes delay while they all start up.
So if I'm not already running the "full browser" required for auth, ideally for authentication I'm going to want it to launch an "alternate profile" instance of my full browser which doesn't include all the other tabs or normal user info.
I.e. the browser should somehow be able to load just one special window for this application, and remember that it hasn't actually loaded my regular profile and saved state yet.
Clicking on any links for info that is logically "outside the application", that's what should probably lead to a regular full browser being started.
In the end, this ideal browser behaviour in response to an application requesting Google auth is much the same as using an embedded web view - except running separately from the application for security purposes so that it's UI isn't subject to application interference.
Given that's just a web view with security properties, why not instead allow auth to launch a "security instance" version of an embedded web view, one that is subject to guarantees from the OS/GUI security systems that it is running independently from the application which triggered its launch?