The new Canva PWA is an awesome update that shows off web app abilities

Since Canva’s big Create Conference, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the updates to their core service in the web-based PWA we use around here on a daily basis. A couple weeks ago, I stopped actively looking for it and just assumed it would get here when it gets here. And now, as of this morning, we’re seeing the updated PWA in all its glory, and it makes me so happy to see what the web as a platform is capable of.

The same underlying abilities

Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a full-blown overhaul of the Canva experience. Instead, its a refinement of the PWA that makes it feel native and considered compared to the way Canva used to be presented. While we’ve been using their services for a few years now, I always felt like Canva could make the experience on the desktop a bit more cohesive.

While I love the tools and capabilities of their core graphics offering, the UI and layout wasn’t the best. With this update, however, things are falling into place nicely, and though I have to get used to things being in different places, the overall experience of Canva’s PWA on the desktop is so much better for it.

What has changed

The difference comes down primarily to a couple big changes: the menus/primary navigation and the self-included nature the app defaults to now. Let’s start with the navigation elements.

First up, I can tell you that the handling of the sidebar menu makes way more sense. With smaller icons, you simply hover over the section you need (i.e. – elements, text, uploads, etc.) and a flyout menu is there to meet you. It keeps the canvas nice and clean and sacrifices nothing in the process.

And then, if you choose to edit a photo, the menu slides in from the right instead of overtaking the left-hand sidebar. All the tools are still there like before, but this disrupts your overall workflow a lot less. Oh, and they added a bespoke corner rounding tool in the quick menu as well, so that is a welcome addition.

But the biggest and most impacting change is the fact that your projects simply open in the same PWA window you start in. Before, if you clicked on a project, that particular file opened in a new tab in the browser. Did it work? Sure! Was it a bit awkward? Absolutely. But this new UI overhaul fixes the issue and makes everything feel far more cohesive.

Combining these elements together, this new UI overhaul really feels like a huge step forward for Canva from a user’s perspective. While the core competency of Canva remains the same, moving around the app now feels so much better, and I’m incredibly happy with the way things have shaped up now.