Microsoft goes all-in on Progressive Web Apps
The company says that Progressive Web Apps are an essential part of its strategy, and while some believe that at some point they could replace UWP, that’s really not the case.
“Given the overlap in terms of capabilities, we often get asked about the recommended approach: PWA or UWP. We see this as a false dichotomy! In fact, on Windows 10, the Universal Windows Platform fully embraces Progressive Web Apps, because EdgeHTML is a foundational component of UWP,” the firm says.
Progressive Web Apps are essentially web apps that are enhanced with modern features like Service Worker, Fetch Networking, push notifications, and others, in order to deliver an app-like experience through the browser.
In the coming weeks, Microsoft will begin a series of experiment to start listing these apps on the Microsoft Store, which means that users can find them just like any other app that’s currently available for download.
On Windows 10, Progressive Web Apps will come in the form of appx packages, just like a Microsoft Store app, and will run in their own sandboxed container. Thanks to this approach, PWAs will also show up in the Start menu and Cortana search results, and will also benefit from native features like notifications.
“Over the coming months, we’re laser focused on polishing our initial implementation of the core technologies behind PWAs in EdgeHTML and the Universal Windows Platform—Service Worker, Push, Web App Manifest, and especially Fetch are foundational technologies which have a potentially dramatic impact to compatibility and reliability of existing sites and apps, so real-world testing with our Insider population is paramount,” Microsoft says.
Windows 10 Redstone 4 is expected to be finalized next month, while the production ring should receive it as soon as April as version 1803.
