Progressive Web Apps: Google released Chrome 70 with a new feature that allows browser users to install Progressive Web Apps (PWA) in the browser.
PWAs transform websites and services on the Internet into something that behaves more like apps. This approach has some advantages, for example, users can launch the apps from the operating system desktop, or even use the service offline, provided the service supports it.
Offline support depends largely on the application and the functionality it provides. A Notepad PWA, for example, will be able to work fine offline, while a service like Spotify or Twitter will not work or will only work with limited features, as it requires an Internet connection to download data to the user's device.
PWAs can also use features provided by the operating system. In Windows 10, for example, apps can make use of the operating system's notification center or follow certain operating system rules and policies.
Note: Users of Linux and MacOS devices should enable the policy by setting the following flag to enabled:
chrome://flags/#enable-desktop-pwas
Google plans to make default support for these systems available starting with Chrome 72.
Google Chrome as we mentioned above supports the Progressive Web Application feature since Chrome 70 which was released yesterday. So if you want to install a PWA application in your browser you should first visit the page that contains the application. For example we mention the page of the notepad application. If you now click on Menu – Install AppName you can install it.
Chrome loads the app into its UI and later adds it to the operating system's list of installed apps. Windows 10 users can also find it in the Start menu.
Chrome lists all installed PWAs and gives users options to manage them. Google decided to integrate them as apps into the browser, which means you can view all installed PWAs by opening the internal page
chrome://apps/
It should be mentioned that although Chrome's support for PWAs works immediately and is quite simple, Google does not yet have a Store for Progressive Web Apps.
The company could add the apps to the Chrome Web Store at some point, but since they aren't there, Chrome users who want to install PWAs will have to visit the exact URL offered in the PWA and click Menu – Install to install it.
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