Maxim Salnikov

@webmaxru

Getting started with

Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps — what are the advantages

and how to get started

Maxim Salnikov

  • PWA Summit co-organizer

  • PWA Oslo / PWA London meetups organizer

  • Google Dev Expert in Web Tech / Capabilities & Installability

Developer Audience Lead at Microsoft

PWA chapter of Web Almanac 2021

  • Useful: Feature-rich, leveraging all power of the platform

  • Available: Easy to find and return to

  • Pleasant: Performant, smooth user experience

We want to build an app

  • At least two development teams required to build and support

  • Gated by the app stores

  • Some stores are sensitive to the applications built with templates and constructors

  • Very few players share vast majority of income on this market

Option #1: Native apps

Option #2: Cross-platform frameworks

  • It's always a compromise

  • Is it a future-proof investment?

  • Is it really write once - run everywhere?

  • Available almost everywhere

  • Constantly improving performance of JavaScript engines

  • Access to devices hardware

  • APIs for authentication & payments

  • Streamlined and future-proof learning curve

Option #3: True web

Web as an app platform

  • Historically depends on the "connection status"

  • Historically limited to work in the browser, not a platform context

  • Evergreen browsers

  • Versatile language(s)

  • Excellent tooling

  • Huge community

What is PWA at all?

Progressive Web Apps are web apps that use emerging web browser APIs and features along with traditional progressive enhancement strategy

to bring a native app-like user experience to cross-platform web applications.

A useful design pattern, not a formalized standard.

works everywhere*

* but not everything**

natively

** use progressive enhancement strategy

Native-like experiences?

Smart networking + Offline

Proper app experience

Staying notified

Background tasks

whatpwacando.today

=

+

Service worker

Web app manifest

Served via HTTPS

Proper offline-ready web app

  • App itself

  • Online runtime data

  • Offline runtime data

  • Connection failures

  • Updates

  • Platform features

  • Always available

  • Thoughtfully collected

  • Safely preserved

  • Do not break the flow

  • Both explicit and implicit

  • For the win!

Let's build an App shell

My App

  • Define assets

  • Put in the cache

  • Serve from the cache

  • Manage versions

}

Service worker

Logically

"Physically"

-file(s)

App

Service-worker

Browser/OS

Event-driven worker

Cache

fetch
push
sync

Own service worker

self.addEventListener('install', event => {
    // Use Cache API to cache html/js/css
})

self.addEventListener('activate', event => {
    // Clean the cache from the obsolete versions
})

self.addEventListener('fetch', event => {
    // Serve assets from cache or network
})

handmade-service-worker.js

Lots of things to care about...

Redirects?

Fallbacks?

Opaque response?

Versioning?

Cache invalidation?

Spec updates?

Cache storage space?

Variable asset names?

Feature detection?

Minimal required cache update?

Caching strategies?

Routing?

Fine-grained settings?

Kill switch?

I see the old version!!!

  • Define assets

  • Put in the cache

  • Serve from the cache

  • Manage versions

}

Is there a helper?

?

  • Balanced abstraction level

  • Declarativeness where appropriate

  • Modularity and extensibility

  • Rich functionality out of the box

  • Powerful tooling 

~30% of the service workers — are...

Open source, active maintenance and support 

Workbox sample

// Setting up an application shell
precacheAndRoute(self.__WB_MANIFEST);

// Runtime caching API calls
registerRoute(
  ({ url }) => url.hostname.includes("/api/"),
  new StaleWhileRevalidate()
);

// Your own listeners
self.addEventListener("push", (event) => {});

workbox-service-worker.js

  • Video and slides

  • Source code

Better platform integration

  • Installation & run

  • Windowing

  • Outbound & inbound bindings

  • Native notifications

  • Background tasks

  • Access to hardware

Installation & run

  • Installation

  • Uninstallation

  • Run on user login

  • Shortcuts

Service Worker with "fetch"

Web App Manifest

{

{
  "name": "My PWA",
  "start_url": "/",
  "icons": [{
    "src": "icons/512x512.png",
    "sizes": "512x512",
    "type": "image/png"
  }]
}

site.webmanifest

Installation & run

  • Installation

  • Uninstallation

  • Run on user login

  • Shortcuts

"shortcuts": [{
  "name": "Upload Audio File",
  "url": "/upload-mp3",
  "icons": [{
    "src": "/icon-mp3.png",
    "sizes": "192x192"
  }]
}]

site.webmanifest

Windowing

  • Main window mode

  • Title bar overlay

  • Tabbed experience

{
  "display":
    "fullscreen" |
    "standalone" |
    "minimal-ui" |
    "browser"
}

site.webmanifest

Windowing

  • Main window mode

  • Title bar overlay

  • Tabbed experience

titlebar-area-x
titlebar-area-y
titlebar-area-width
titlebar-area-height

CSS Variables

{
  "display_override": "window-controls-overlay"
}

site.webmanifest

Windowing

  • Main window mode

  • Title bar overlay

  • Tabbed experience

{
  "display_override": "tabbed"
}

site.webmanifest

Bindings

Inbound                            Outbound

  • Protocol handlers

  • Declarative Link Capturing

  • URL handlers

  • File type handlers

  • Share target API

  • Web Share API

  • Contact Picker API

  • File Access API

PWA Builder & PWA Studio

  • Full-fledged application platform

  • Offline-ready mechanisms are in production

  • Web apps are real apps

  • User experience & security is the key

And this is just the beginning!

Web platform today

Continue your PWA learning journey

Thank you!

Maxim Salnikov

@webmaxru

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