How can you we’ve noticed, we now do most of our computing using web browsers. Websites and web applications can take care of everything from watching movies to creating spreadsheets to reviewing emails.
If you think about the desktop programs you use regularly, for many people it will probably be limited to an image editor, a web browser, and perhaps an office application. Working in the cloud is the norm now and the trend is only going in one direction. (Microsoft even allows you to stream Windows through a web browser now.)
With the ever-blurring distinction between online apps and desktop programs, you can now set up some of the most popular web apps on your Windows, macOS, or Chrome OS desktop. Use what’s called progressive web applications or PWAs, and we’ll explain everything you need to know.
Progressive web applications have been explained
Progressive web applications are particular types of web applications. Not all applications that you can run on the web are PWA. In order for an online application to meet the requirements, it must be created in a particular way by its developer and use a particular set of coding standards that allow it to stand alone as a desktop program.
Some of the best known examples of PWA are Twitter, Spotify, Google Chat and Uber, but more are being added all the time. Both Google (understood) and Microsoft are pushing the idea that PWAs are part of the desktop ecosystem. Therefore, the easiest option to configure them is using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers.
Chrome OS can introduce web app entries to its main launcher.
Chrome OS by David NieldWhen you switch from using a site like Twitter in your browser to using it in a PWA, you won’t see a big difference right away. PWAs are essentially websites that run in a wrapper of desktop programs, so many functionalities are the same. However, you will be able to treat them as desktop applications and this has a number of advantages.
This means that you can manage these applications more easily from the taskbar (Windows), the base (macOS) or the shelf (Chrome OS). Installing PWA also means that notifications from these applications can be managed at the operating system level and can be treated differently from browser notifications. They will be in the main application list and you do not need to have your browser open to use them.