The Workspot Browser and Web Applications

  • Updated on Jan 9, 2025
  • Published on Dec 12, 2024
  • 5 minute(s) read
  • Robert Plamondon
  • Jesse Wilson

The Workspot Browser

The Workspot Browser is a special-purpose secure browser built into Workspot Clients. It lets you offer controlled access to Workspot Web Applications. These Web Applications can be Internet URLs like https://teams.workspot.com or your own applications on your internal or Internet Web servers.

Users see Web Applications in the Workspot Client and interact with them the same way they do with Cloud Apps and Workspot desktops. When the user clicks on the icon of a Web Application, it launches in a secure Workspot Browser window on the user’s local device.

Client Dashboard with Web Applications, Cloud Applications, and a Desktop.

Google Sheets running on the user’s local device in a Workspot Browser window.

Features

Controlled Environment

The Workspot Browser runs only the Web Applications that you assign, in a controlled environment with:

  • No address/URL bar, limiting navigation to that provided within the Web Application.

  • No  browser extensions.

  • I/O operations, including cut, paste, and printing are controlled by the user’s Security Policy.

  • Downloads are sent to a secure “Downloads” folder in the Workspot Client.

  • Browser updates are provided by Workspot.

Ease of Use

  • To an end-user, Web Applications and Cloud Applications are much the same, each popping up in their own window and operating independently.

  • Built-in SSO: Secure credential caching minimizes the cases where credentials must be reentered.

  • Automatic use built-in VPN when required.

Ease of Administration

  • Declaring a Web Application is very simple, little more than listing its URL, giving it a name, assigning it to users by adding it to an Application Bundle.

  • Web Application usage is reported on the Workspot Control Events page and in Workspot Watch.

  • Same VPN support as Desktops and Cloud Applications (currently F5).

Specifications

  • Built on Chromium.

  • Available now to all existing Workspot Cloud Desktop/Cloud Application customers.

  • Can also be licensed as Secure Browser Only: contact Workspot for more information.

Current and Upcoming Releases

The Workspot Browser is part of the Workspot Clients. New features are released first for the Workspot Windows Client, with others to follow.

Additional details are TBD.

Limitations

  • Not supported in kiosk mode on the Windows Client.

Creating a Web Application

To add a Web Application to Workspot Control:

  • Sign into Workspot Control as a Full Administrator.

  • Go to “Resources > Applications > Add an Application.”

  • Fill out the “Add a New Application” form:

    • Select “Web” as the Application Type.

    • Put the URL of your Application in the “Application URL” field.

    • Fill in the “Application Name” field with the label you want to be displayed to users on the Workspot Client.

    • Set “Route App traffic through VPN” to “Yes” only if you are using the Client’s built-in VPN to connect to the Application’s Web server.

      • To use the VPN only when connecting remotely, and to connect directly when on the corporate LAN. See Location Detector.

  • Choose an Application Icon. You can upload your own icons (.png format and 144×144 pixels recommended), use the default icon, or select one from the list of provided icons.

  • Ignore the “Login Type” field. It is not used for Web Applications.

“Add a New Application” page, part 1.

  • Under “Target Platforms",” select the Workspot Clients for which you want the Application to be available.

  • Add the Application to at least one Application Bundle.

    • Each User Group has an associated Web Bundle and its users will have access to all its Applications.

    • You can also assign Applications to individual users.

  • Press “Add Application.”

"Add a New Application” page, part 2.

Using the Workspot Browser

The Application icon will become visible (and usable) once the Client user updates their configuration, which it does upon launch, periodically thereafter, and also manually with the Client’s “Refresh Configuration” button. Users who have not been assigned the App or the appropriate Bundle will not see the App’s icon:

Client dashboard showing the new application (top right) and the Downloads folder (bottom).

Clicking on the Application icon launches it in an Workspot Browser Window:

The Web Application running in the Workspot Browser.

The Workspot Browser offers deliberately minimalistic controls: Back, Forward, Refresh, Print (if enabled in the Security Policy), Minimize, Restore, and Close. That’s all.

You can launch multiple instances of the same Web Application by clicking on its icon multiple times. You can also have as many different Desktops, Cloud Applications, and Web Applications running simultaneously as you have access to.

If the Web Application allows you to download a file, it is saved in the Client’s secure storage. The “Downloads” icon appears on the Client Dashboard when this is non-empty.

VPN Use

The Built-in VPN

The Workspot Browser can use the Client’s built-in VPN support  as follows:

  • It is a clientless SSL VPN with support currently limited to F5. On first use it may ask the user for credentials but will cache them securely once they are used successfully in a connection. (Resetting the Client will reset cached credentials.)

  • If “Route App Traffic through VPN” is set to “Yes,” for a Web Application, the built-in VPN is started automatically (if configured) when the Web Application is launched unless the Client’s location detector determines that the Client is already on the corporate network (which it will never do if you haven’t configured location detection).

  • The location detector decision is made on a per-Client-device basis. The VPN decision is made on an individual Web Application basis: some Web Applications may use the VPN while others connect directly, according to their “Route App Traffic through VPN” settings.

  • Workspot Desktops and Cloud Applications make their own VPN decisions. In their case, they have the option of a direct, VPN, or RD Gateway connection. All three options may be in use simultaneously for different desktops and Apps, each ignoring the routing decisions of the others.

  • When users launch a desktop or App through the VPN, it is noted in an Event message in Control.

Configuring the Built-in VPN

Configuring the Built-in VPN in Workspot Control is simple:

  • Go to “Setup > Gateways > Private Cloud VPN(s)” and click “Add a Private Cloud VPN.”

  • Fill in the fields for “Service Name,” “Authentication URL,” “SSL VPN Type,” and “Select Groups.”

    • You can have multiple VPNs if you assign them to different User Groups.

  • Click the “Test” button for the “Authentication URL” to ensure that a connection can be made to it.

  • Click “Add Private Cloud VPN.”

  • Edit existing Web Applications that you want to use the VPN to select “Route App Traffic Through VPN.”

Other (External) VPNs

If your end-users use a VPN client that’s external to the Workspot Client, the Workspot Client can’t tell the difference between this and being directly connected to the remote LAN. Such a VPN can be used instead of the built-in VPN or in addition to it, depending on your requirements.