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Building Progressive Web Apps

Plan useful offline behaviour and test the experience before adding app-like features.

Eira Digital · · 1 min read

Building Progressive Web Apps

Start with the main task

Before adding progressive web app features, decide what visitors need to accomplish. A booking tool, a catalogue and a game have different needs when a connection becomes unreliable.

A PWA uses web technologies and can add capabilities such as installation and offline access. Those capabilities need to be designed and tested; calling a website a PWA does not make every feature work offline.

Decide what to keep available

List the content people should be able to open without a connection. Separate that from actions that require fresh information or a server response. Show a clear message when an action cannot complete, rather than leaving a button apparently broken.

Test the difficult moments

Check the first visit, a return visit, a lost connection and an update to a new version. Test the browsers and devices your audience uses. A reliable core journey is more useful than a long feature list.

Further reading: MDN progressive web app guides.

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