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PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) have been around for quite some time, but at Google’s Chrome Developers Summit back in November, functionality for support of PWAs across the board was kicked into overdrive. This uptick in available technologies doesn’t mean we’re now flooded with new PWAs everywhere we look: it simply means that the doors are wide open for developers to start considering PWAs as true native app replacements.
Before we move on, if you aren’t familiar with PWAs, go read about them here and come right back.
Now that we’re all on the same page, you can understand why the news that PWA support being on Mac OS and rounding out the entire ecosystem of desktop operating system support for PWAs is a big deal. We now have a universally adopted, universally functional, universally available option for developers to deploy a single codebase for an application via the web.
Check out the latest video from the Chrome Developers team highlighting this feature that has just rolled out for Mac OS with Chrome 73.
We’ve tested this and can confirm that with apps like Squoosh, you can simply head to squoosh.app, hit the 3-dot menu in Chrome, select ‘Install Squoosh’, and you will now have the Squoosh PWA installed and behaving just like a native app in every way, shape and form.
Now that this universal adoption is in place, there’s no reason devs won’t start targeting the web as a legitimate delivery system for their existing and upcoming applications. Gone are the days of writing a single app for Mac OS, Window, and Linux. Now, you write for the web, deploy to the web, and updates happen seamlessly, effortlessly, and without much work on behalf of the user.
With Mac OS not being on board until now, there’s been a feeling of fragmentation with PWAs. Now, however, there is a clear route forward for anyone thinking of deploying an app via the open web, and the more devs that do this, the better for everyone. The future of web apps feels brighter than ever.
