Web Hosting for Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps are powerful, engaging and easily deployable without requiring full app installations. They’re cross-platform (running on any modern browser including iOS, Android and Windows), linkable, zero-friction (no download necessary) fast and even work offline!

They use web technology, but have additional features that give them the feel of native mobile apps. This is made possible thanks to service workers which run independently from websites and can handle push notifications, background synchronization, and offline availability.

Progressive Web Apps have many of the same characteristics and performance characteristics of native mobile applications, yet can be created and deployed faster due to no platform-specific code being required – saving companies both time and money in development costs.

Staples encountered difficulty transitioning its online services into the mobile era and providing a consistent user experience across devices. After considering developing its own native app, however, Staples ultimately realized that creating a progressive web app would better meet their goal of offering seamless digital experiences to their customers.

To create a Progressive Web App, you need a website that supports HTML5 APIs for media playback, canvas drawing and other graphics-related features, an HTTPS host with reliable servers and a file titled “web app manifest”, which details its basic properties. Tools like JSFiddle or the open source PWA Creator from GitHub allow for this task.