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Progressive web apps (which work offline, btw) can already be installed on Windows (demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUma1l3BKOI) via Chrome — all the app needs is a manifest and a service worker — so it might be worth experimenting with supporting it (for people who’ve “grown out of” installers).

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These native apps powered by electron allow for much better desktop integration than the kind of web application you're talking about here. Traditional installers are required for these kind of desktop integration that most people have grown accustomed to. It's a trade-off!

That and they wouldn't get classic BitTorrent compatibility in a web app.

I thought WebTorrent already is BitTorrent-compatible, no?

No, WebRTC cannot make normal TCP connections so it can't be used to connect to a classic client. In theory all bittorrent software could implement WebRTC connections though

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