What is a PWA?
A Progressive Web App is a web page which can function like a native app.
- Works offline.
- Support push notifications via service workers.
- Get access to the underlying device features like camera and file system.
- You can now find PWAs in Google Play store, Apple Store, Windows Store and more.
- Installable.
- Can have offline support.
- Microsoft and Google loves PWAs.
Why?
- Get away from app stores and vendor limitations. The average user installs 0 new apps on all the top platforms.
- Cost of supporting multiple native implementations is heavy.
Why Not?
- Will not be native UI.
- Raw processing.
Service Worker
- Can intercept network calls like Fetch. Cache network calls.
- Notifications are registered to the device, so the app can get updates when the browser is closed.
- Service workers cannot manipulate the DOM.