config.xml

config.xml as the Cross-Platform Manifest

config.xml describes your app to every platform. Its <widget> root comes from the W3C's old packaged web app (Widgets) format, which PhoneGap adopted and extended. The template still named the Apache Cordova 129 Team as author; this is BookNest's version after the changes in this section:

BookNest's config.xmlXML
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<widget id="com.example.booknest" version="1.0.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets"
        xmlns:cdv="http://cordova.apache.org/ns/1.0"
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <name short="BookNest">BookNest</name>
    <description>A small bookshop: six books, their details and a cart.</description>
    <author email="books@example.com" href="https://example.com">BookNest Team</author>
    <content src="index.html" />
    <allow-intent href="http://*/*" />
    <allow-intent href="https://*/*" />
    <allow-intent href="mailto:*" />
    <preference name="DisallowOverscroll" value="true" />
    <platform name="android">
        <preference name="StatusBarBackgroundColor" value="#1B5E20" />
        <preference name="AndroidWindowSplashScreenBackground" value="#2E7D32" />
        <allow-intent href="market:*" />
        <edit-config file="app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml" mode="merge"
                     target="/manifest/application">
            <application android:allowBackup="false" />
        </edit-config>
    </platform>
    <platform name="ios">
        <allow-intent href="itms-apps:*" />
    </platform>
</widget>

cordova prepare (The Build Pipeline) carries each element into the native project: the identity into the Gradle 19,597 build, the name into res/values/cdv_strings.xml, the allow lists and preferences into the platform's own config.xml, and <edit-config> into AndroidManifest.xml. <description> and <author> are metadata only; stores take their listing text from their consoles (Play Console Requirements). Treat the file as source: it is the only place your native settings survive a cordova platform rm and add.