Word of the Day: progressive web app (PWA)

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms |March 28, 2018

progressive web app (PWA) A progressive web app (PWA) is a website that looks and behaves as if it is a mobile app. PWAs are built to take advantage of native mobile device features, without requiring the end user to visit an app store, make a purchase and download software locally. Instead, a PWA can be located with a search engine query and accessed immediately through a browser. PWAs eliminate the need for e-commerce merchants to develop native apps for multiple mobile operating systems. Just like YouTube videos, PWA content is downloaded progressively, which provides the end user with a better user experience than a traditional website that uses responsive design. The term "progressive web apps" was coined in 2015 by designer Frances Berriman and Google Chrome engineer, Alex Russell.   The goal of PWAs is to blur the distinction between native apps and the mobile web by bringing most of the benefits of native mobile apps to the mobile browser. PWAs use standards-based technologies and run in a container that is secure and accessible to anyone on the web. They can send web push notifications, work offline and be accessible from the home screen, just like a mobile app from an app store. PWAs can also take advantage of APIs and browser plugins to ensure that deploying and maintaining a website remains as easy as possible. Another benefit PWAs have inherited from traditional websites is the use of URIs to indicate current state. This allows the web app to retain or reload its state when the user bookmarks or shares the app's URL. Quote of the Day "As performance and user experience become more essential to the success of an enterprise mobile app, progressive web apps gain interest -- and may eventually become the future standard for mobile development." - Erica Mixon   Trending Terms native app progressive download form factor application sandboxing mobile application development platform URI   Learning Center Progressive web apps drive mobile development of the future Progressive web apps improve user experience -- and they're changing the face of mobile app development. Discover how organizations can take advantage. Using progressive web applications to improve the user experience At the O'Reilly Fluent Conference, Dean Hume, chief technology officer of Settled, shared tips for implementing progressive web applications. Forbes chases Millennials with 'progressive web app,' Snapchat-like design Forbes' quest to remain relevant includes a mobile site rebuilt as a 'progressive web app' and 'narrative streams. Five rapid application development tools to consider for mobile Learn about different vendors' low- and no-code platforms, micro apps, and more in this rundown of rapid application development tools. Scalability, performance soar with mobile apps in the cloud When IT and dev teams run mobile apps in the cloud vs. on premises, they typically see big gains around scalability, speed and more. Writing for Business I prefer native apps ___ Web apps because they're customized for my smartphone. A. than B. to Answer   Stay In Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com   Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed!   FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2018 TechTarget. All rights reserved.