Progressive Web Apps (PWA) coming to Chrome

It has been a big week for Progressive Web Apps (PWA) with both Apple and now Google outlining new ways to bring this style of app even further into the mainstream – which is great news if you have taken up our mobile app business opportunity as we have long since championed the versatility of PWAs.

Earlier this week at its annual developer conference, Apple announced that it was starting the process of bringing iOS apps from its main App Store to macOS . Part of that process Apple says is transforming apps to work within a traditional browser environment – a feature inherent to Progressive Web Apps.

Last Month, Microsoft debuted a new look Microsoft Store with a greater number of PWAs on offer . Now, it’s the turn of Chrome users. Google is soon to launch Version 67 of the Chrome OS. With this new version of the OS, the search engine has tackled one of the major flaws that Chromebook users will be all too familiar with – the lack of Chrome apps.

With version 67, Google seems to have found a solution. That solution? Progressive Web Apps. It will introduce PWAs for the Chrome desktop – as with all PWAs, the apps can live on the Chrome desktop and be clicked on, opened and used just like a regular app can.

In its official blog post announcing the introduction of PWAs, Google notes that the use of PWA is growing and heralds a number of benefits for users; namely that they are fast, integrated, engaging and reliable. The Chrome blog says desktop usage of PWAs is growing and that levels of use remain steady throughout the day.

In its post, Google gives a few times for Progressive Web App designers too, saying that designing for desktop (in this case Chrome) is a little different. It points out there is a bigger window to fill for example, so advises that this extra screen real estate is used wisely rather than simply padded out.

If you’re keen to develop a PWA for Chrome users, Google also says that you should make responsive design a key focal point so users with a device like Pixelbook get the level of service and user experience they expect however they’re using it.

Additional advances may also be forthcoming, such as link capturing and support for keyboard shortcuts.