What are Progressive Web Apps
Progressive Web Apps were officially born back in 2015.
A term coined by
Google’s Senior Staff Software Engineer, Alex Russell (who’s also responsible for
the above quote*), PWAs can best be described as websites that behave like
apps. If you imagine that an app and a website had a lovechild that inherited its
parents’ best characteristics (and none of the worst), that would be exactly what
a PWA is.
From one parent (the website), the PWA inherits its easy
discoverability (without having to be downloaded) and low maintenance
upkeep; and from the other parent (the app), the PWA inherits its rich
functionality, offline user interactivity, and engaging experience.
Like a website, a PWA is accessed directly from your web browser; and like an
app, it can be installed on your mobile device’s home screen and send you
notifications. Though PWAs have been around for a few years, they’re really
starting to hit their stride now, so there’s no better time than now to offer PWA
functionality to your clients
How Do They Work?
The magic behind PWAs are ‘secret helpers’ known as service workers. Service
workers are JavaScript files that work in the browser’s background, separately
from the browser. Service workers follow message commands sent to them by
a server to execute tasks like intercepting network requests and enabling API
functions such as push notifications, caching, and background syncs.
Since service workers operate in the browser’s background, they can connect to
the internet and automatically update data –– as long as the user doesn’t quit
the browser. And even if the PWA itself is not open, all loaded content will be
updated and then cached automatically for offline access.
The end result? An
app that is always up to date meets a website that works offline. How
progressive!


