Progressive web apps: a love story

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Progressive web apps: a love story

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offline-a-love-story-2016-05

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Offline: a love story

@nolanlawson

Hi everybody.

@nolanlawson

I'm Nolan Lawson. Sometimes I make "here's how big of a sub sandwich I had for lunch" hands, or as Mariko taught me they're called in Japanese, "pottery hands" (ろくろ回す手).
I work at Squarespace, and I help maintain PouchDB.

A story about mobile experiences

2010: Android was young

Pokédroid

  • 440k+ downloads
  • 9,700+ reviews
  • 4.8 stars
  • Top 10 in category "Entertainment"

Why was Pokédroid so popular?

Many alternatives on the web

  • Bulbapedia
  • Marriland
  • Serebii
  • GameFAQs

What Pokédroid had that no others had:

OFFLINE!

It's so nice to be able to be on the road playing Pokémon and having a quick reference without all the large guidebooks. – Google Play review

3.5MB SQLite database

2011: Pokédroid DMCA'd

  • Publishing to app store asserts IP ownership
  • Nintendo wary of apps
  • Web sites okay

In 2011, you could not build Pokédroid using web technology alone.

2016: progressive web apps

Coined by Alex Russell of Google

https://infrequently.org/2015/06/progressive-apps-escaping-tabs-without-losing-our-soul/

Alex Russell

What makes a progressive web app?

  • Native-like characteristics
  • Promoted by browser chrome

Native-like characteristics

  • Works offline
  • Launches from home screen
  • Hides URL bar
  • "First class" treatment in OS
  • Push notifications (optional)
  • Background sync (optional)

What changed?

  • AppCache -> ServiceWorker
  • WebSQL -> IndexedDB
  • touch icons -> Web App Manifest
  • save to homescreen -> first-class citizen

In 2011, you couldn't build a high-performance, immersive offline app with web technologies.

In 2011, you can.

Thanks!

http://nolanlawson.github.io/offline-a-love-story-2016-05