Progressive Web Apps: Native App Experience on the Web
By on 10/29/2025
Progressive Web Apps blur the line between websites and native applications, offering offline functionality, push notifications, and home screen installation without app store approval.
Service Workers for Offline Capability
Service workers act as programmable network proxies, intercepting requests and serving cached responses when networks are unavailable. This enables offline functionality, dramatically improving reliability on spotty connections. Implementing service workers requires careful cache strategy – decide what to cache, when to update, and how to handle cache invalidation.
Web App Manifest
The manifest.json file defines how your PWA appears when installed. Specify your app’s name, icons in multiple sizes, theme colors, and display mode. The standalone display mode hides browser UI, creating an immersive app-like experience. Proper manifest configuration determines whether browsers offer installation prompts.
Caching Strategies
Different content types need different caching approaches. Cache-first works well for static assets like CSS and JavaScript that rarely change. Network-first suits dynamic content that should be fresh when possible but fall back to cache offline. Stale-while-revalidate provides instant cached responses while updating the cache in the background.
App Shell Architecture
The app shell pattern caches your application’s UI skeleton separately from content. This ensures instant loading of your app’s structure even when content is loading or unavailable. Users see familiar navigation and layout immediately, with content populating as it becomes available.
Push Notifications
Push notifications re-engage users even when your site isn’t open. They require user permission and should be used judiciously. Implement notification prompts contextually when users perform actions indicating interest, never immediately on page load. Provide clear value propositions for why users should enable notifications.
Installation Experience
Modern browsers automatically offer installation prompts when PWA criteria are met. You can also create custom installation prompts that match your brand. Track installation events to measure PWA adoption and optimize the installation experience based on user behavior.