Running Windows on Arm devices has been less common than using an Intel or AMD-based laptop, but a wave of new Qualcomm processors, like the Snapdragon X Elite, could dramatically increase its appeal. Some users might hesitate to adopt Arm because of misconceptions about x86-64 app compatibility in Windows 11 on Arm, but my first-hand testing discovered that they generally worked as expected.

However, despite some Arm-native builds of my daily apps appearing across the Microsoft Store and beyond, my recent experiments with a second-hand Surface Pro X showed me an alternative that can be even better. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are, in essence, a clever variant of a traditional webpage that you can install and pin to your taskbar, Start menu, or desktop. I've found a few favorites, so let me explain why you should give them a shot, too.

How does a Progressive Web App work?

As part of the name implies, a PWA is similar to using a browser-based version of traditional x86-64 and Arm applications built with typical web frameworks like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, among others. If you've noticed that many of your most-used apps look curiously similar to how they work through a web browser like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, that's no coincidence. For example, Discord, a popular text and voice chat app, runs on Electron and Node.js, a JavaScript environment like modern websites would use — it looks practically identical whether you use the official app or browser version.

Despite appearing like webpages, PWAs still behave like desktop apps after being installed in Windows 11. You can manage your list of installed apps and remove any unwanted PWAs precisely as you would with any traditional app, or you can repeat the same install steps to remove the same app. Each PWA launches with standard UI buttons to minimize, restore, maximize, or close the app, so there's nothing unexpected. However, PWAs can open a Bing-powered sidebar for web searches, which helps with quick queries and wouldn't usually appear in the desktop app.

Can PWAs perform better than native apps?

Most apps with a browser version are often somewhat simplistic, with standout exceptions like Clipchamp offering its comprehensive video editing suite through the cloud. If your app performs basic tasks, a native Arm version would likely use less system memory (RAM) than a PWA. Windows 11 needs to run your chosen web browser, like Microsoft Edge, in the background to provide the framework for a PWA, which needs a minimum amount of RAM to operate that might be higher than a lightweight native app or an emulated x86-64 alternative.

However, web browsers are the most frequently used apps on PCs, so it's uncommon not to have a single instance of something like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome running quietly in the background. If the combined RAM usage of a standalone app and your browser process exceeds the isolated count running it as a PWA, it's more efficient to use the latter, especially if your browser has lower memory usage, like Vivaldi on Arm. For example, through my testing with an SQ1-based Surface Pro X running Windows 11, Microsoft Edge uses at least 700MB of system memory, while Vivaldi uses around 500MB.

Currently, Vivaldi on Arm crashes when I try to install a PWA. Still, its developers are extremely clear about its unstable state and explain that "serious issues may exist and should be expected," so we'll likely have to wait for future updates before potentially enjoying reduced RAM usage. Nevertheless, the point remains that my daily workload includes having a browser open for most of my day. In fact, besides playing video games in my downtime, I can't think of many times when I didn't have at least one tab open in Microsoft Edge.

If I must choose between running the Arm-native version of Spotify, which uses at least 400MB of RAM during playback, and launching the app as a PWA within my already-open instance of Microsoft Edge, which uses around 700MB, I'll go with the PWA to prevent doubling up. Memory usage is especially relevant on a device like my Surface Pro X, which has 7.5GB of usable RAM out of the built-in 8GB, so I prefer consolidating tasks where possible. Some apps like Clipchamp barely differ in memory consumption between the Arm-native and PWA variants, which comes down to personal preference, and I lean towards the latter.

PWAs bring convenience beyond your browser

While I still keep desktop apps around, I've switched to PWA replacements more than ever since the experience is often identical. It's not an across-the-board improvement for every stock app, and recent hate for the new Outlook update is relatively justified, but most of my daily drivers are more convenient when used as a Progressive Web App.

I still encourage everyone to check the ever-expanding list of Windows on Arm apps that you shouldn't live without. However, PWAs are ideal alternatives, expanding their usefulness to traditional x86-64 PCs powered by Intel and AMD processors.

I'm not holding out (or even asking for) a future version of Windows that revolves entirely around the browser. Still, I could confidently predict more apps will lean toward PWA compatibility, and that's generally positive for users with improvements in processor efficiency and the convenience of pinning apps for quick access. Follow our guide on installing PWAs to give them a shot on your machine, and let me know what you think in the comments.

What you need to know

• Microsoft started rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot to Teams, but only users with access to the Microsoft 365 Copilot early access program can use it now.
• The tool can generate real-time summaries of meetings and messages, thus enhancing productivity and effective communication.
• It will cost $30 per user per month on top of the already existing Microsoft 365 commercial subscriptions.
• Microsoft should ship the experience to wide availability soon.

Microsoft has finally started rolling out the long-awaited AI-powered experience, Microsoft 365 Copilot, to Teams users. The company announced the experience in March, highlighting that it's designed to leverage AI capabilities to gather insightful information from data integrated from Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 apps like Excel, Teams, and more.

If you're part of the Microsoft 365 Copilot early access program, the experience should be rolling out to you in Teams. This means it'll be limited to approximately 600 customers, though Microsoft should be shipping the experience to general availability in the future (via The Verge).

With the experience making its way to Microsoft's video-conferencing platform, Teams, users can leverage the tool's offerings while making calls and even sending out chat messages.

The AI-powered tool will be able to summarize calls in real time and capture important details shared by meeting attendees. Additionally, the tool can also capture feedback provided and suggest the next steps that can be taken. In turn, this information can be factored in and used in the future to address concerns raised.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot experience is also making its way to Teams Chat, and like in Teams phone calls, it can also be used to highlight key points from your messages. With the imminent growth of hybrid work, more organizations are embracing platforms like Teams, Slack, and more. 

And with multiple people working across different time zones, keeping up with all the information shared while you were offline may be difficult. 

Luckily, this no longer has to be the case, as the tool can generate a quick summary of all the information shared while you were away, thus bringing you up to speed with everything.  More importantly, users can leverage the tool's capabilities to highlight key information from chat threads, which can be used to create a list or table.

As we earlier reported, Teams users will incur an additional $30 per user per month charge, which is separate from the already existing Microsoft 365 commercial subscriptions.

In other news, Microsoft recently announced that Visual Search is rolling out to Bing Chat, thus enriching the search experience since users can now use images to conduct their searches. 

What you need to know

• Microsoft Teams has a dynamic emergency calling feature that can share a location you enter with emergency services, such as 911.
• The feature is in testing for the Microsoft Teams web app.
• At the moment, dynamic emergency calling is supported on Teams for Windows, macOS, iOS, Teams phone, and Teams Rooms.

A feature that can help emergency services save people is making its way to the Microsoft Teams web app. Dynamic emergency calling allows Teams to route emergency calls to services such as 911 and share the location of the Teams client. At the moment, the feature is supported on Teams for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Teams phone, and Teams Room, but it should be available for the Teams web app in the near future.

"Dynamic emergency calling for Microsoft Calling Plans, Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, and Direct Routing provides the capability to configure and route emergency calls and notify security personnel based on the current location of the Teams client," reads the Microsoft support document about the feature.

At the moment, Microsoft lists support for Teams on the following platforms:

• Teams desktop client for Microsoft Windows
• Teams desktop client for Apple macOS
• Teams mobile client for Apple iOS client version 1.0.92.2019121004 and App Store version 1.0.92 and greater
• Teams mobile client for Android client and Google Play store version 1416/1.0.0.2019121201 and greater
• Teams phone version 1449/1.0.94.2019110802 and greater
• Teams Rooms version 4.4.25.0 and greater

But the folks at m365community spotted dynamic emergency calling in testing within the Teams web app. The author of that blog specified on Reddit that the feature is available on the Preview Channel if you're running version 3.6. They were able to input their home addresses into the Teams client on the web.

Microsoft's document still specifies that "Dynamic emergency calling, including security desk notification, isn't supported on the Teams web client." We'll have to keep an eye out for official documentation to change as the feature makes its way through testing.

What you need to know

• OneDrive for Business will soon have a progressive web app..
• The progressive web app could launch as early as July 2021.
• Progressive web apps on Windows 10 continue to gain new features that make them act like native apps.

Microsoft will soon roll out a progressive web app (PWA) for OneDrive for Business. You can already access OneDrive for Business on the web, but the new PWA will help it look better on browsers such as Edge, Chrome, and Firefox. For example, PWAs on Microsoft Edge either support or will soon support customizable title bars, streamlined menus, and controls within title bars.

The Microsoft 365 roadmap outlines the feature:

According to Microsoft, the OneDrive for Business PWA could arrive as soon as July 2021, but dates on the roadmap are subject to change.

Microsoft doesn't list any new features that would come with the PWA for OneDrive for Business, so the shift will likely only result in the gain of general progressive web app benefits, such as feeling more native than using an app through a browser.

Updated April 30, 2021: Twitter user Leopeva64 clarified that this feature is available through an optional flag and does not require a Windows Insider build. The post has been updated accordingly.

What you need to know

• Progressive web apps on Windows 10 will soon gain several installation features.
• You can now easily check options when installing a progressive web app.
• The options include pinning to the taskbar, pinning to Start, creating a desktop shortcut, and auto-starting on device login.

Progressive web apps (PWAs) continue to improve on Windows 10. In addition to large organizations such as Instagram and Google adopting PWAs, Microsoft regularly improves what they can do on PCs. An experimental flag on Microsoft Edge adds several new options for installing PWAs.

Once the flag is enabled, people can see options for pinning to the taskbar, pinning to Start, creating a desktop shortcut, and auto-starting on device login. These options make PWAs feel a bit more like normal apps, which is Microsoft's goal.

Twitter user Florian B spotted the functionality and shared a screenshot of the options on Twitter. It has since been brought to our attention that the feature does not require a Windows Insider build and that anyone can enable it through an optional flag.

Earlier this month, we reported that developers will soon be able to customize the title bars of PWAs. The feature, called Windows Controls Overlay, will be available for testing in Chrome 92, which should come out soon. With the feature, developers will be able to add controls and features, such as a search bar or navigation options within the title bars of PWAs.

Between the new installation options and the ability to add controls to title bars, PWAs should feel much more native within the next few months.

Last year, Microsoft also outlined other ways that it's making PWAs feel more native, including options to set PWAs as default file types, adding native system access, and setting PWAs as a share target.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Edge will soon support an option to make progressive web apps look like native apps.
• The feature will allow developers to customize the title bar of progressive web apps.
• In addition to looking better, the option improves the accessibility of progressive web apps.

Microsoft Edge will soon support a feature that will allow progressive web apps (PWAs) to look more like native Windows 10 apps. The feature will let developers customize the title bar area of PWAs. The feature is on the way, according to Techtsp that managed to see some technical documents on the feature with information from the Microsoft Edge team's Amanda Baker.

The title bar on PWAs takes up space and isn't tremendously functional. Apart from the basics of minimizing, maximizing, or closing a window, it doesn't have much in terms of features. A new feature called Windows Controls Overlay should fix that. The feature will let developers add things like a custom search box, a logo, or navigation controls, according to Baker's statements in the technical document.

Not only will this provide more functionality and look better than the current implementation, it will also improve accessibility. Baker says in the document of the current implementation, "If the user has a visual impairment and increases the zoom level of all content on the screen, this is even more of an issue."

Techtsp notes that it could be weeks or months before we see this feature generally available. It is, however, already available in chrome://flags.

What you need to know

• Microsoft is testing a feature for switching profiles within Microsoft Edge PWAs.
• The feature is currently available in Microsoft Edge Dev and Canary.
• You can use the feature to swap between work and personal accounts for PWAs.

Microsoft is testing a new feature for Microsoft Edge that allows you to easily swap between profiles on progressive web apps (PWAs). The feature is currently available in Edge Dev and Canary, according to OnMSFT, though Microsoft's Tech Community post on the topic only mentions that you have to be running Windows 10 version 2004 or later. We did not spot the feature on the stable version of Edge in our testing.

Microsoft Edge already allows you to sign into the browser with multiple accounts. You can then jump between your accounts, such as work and personal profiles, within the browser. This new feature brings that same functionality over to PWAs. This could be useful for media apps, such as installing Disney+ on Windows 10, where having the option to switch between work and personal accounts could be important.

The experimental feature only appears if you've installed the same website or PWA on more than one Edge profile. If that's the case, you then will see a profile switcher within the title bar. With the feature enabled, you will only see a single application tile for the "installed" PWA, rather than one for each profile.

What you need to know

• Microsoft held a session discussing the future of Edge PWAs at Build 2020.
• The session offers an overview of Microsoft's moves to make PWAs feel more like native apps on Windows.
• The presenters outlined several new and existing features to make this possible.

In a session at its Build 2020 developer conference today, Microsoft offered a glimpse at the future of Edge progressive web apps (PWAs). The overall goal, presenters Sohum Chatterjee and Judah Himango explained, is to continue to make PWAs feel more like native app experiences on Windows. In Chatterjee and Himango's words, that involves taking the best of native and web apps to create something in the middle.

As part of the session, embedded above, Chatterjee and Himango laid out some of the features Microsoft has already implemented to create a more native-like experience, and those it has planned for the future. Some of the features the team has in the pipeline for Edge PWAs include:

• Setting PWAs as defaults for file types, URLs, and protocols.
• Native file system access.
• The ability to run on OS login.
• Setting PWAs as a share target.
• App shortcuts.

These features are all part of Project Fugu, an open source project Microsoft is part of to make PWAs more capable.

With Project Fugu improvements, the gap between PWAs and native apps should narrow. Things like allowing PWAs to set themselves as the default app for certain file types will open up new experiences that you cant achieve today, lowering the barrier to entry. For example, Microsoft gives the example of a photo editing PWA setting itself as the default for opening .jpg files.

Likewise, native file system access isn't currently available with the shipping version of Edge, but will replace the current system of having to download a file once you're done with it in the app. Instead, a PWA will be able to write directly to your file system for the specific file you're working on.

Microsoft says that file extension handling is expected to arrive in Edge version 86 later this year, while native file system access is available in the Canary channel today. The option to run a PWA on OS login is expected to hit Edge Canary this summer, while setting a PWA as a share target is expected in Canary in the coming weeks. App shortcuts, like jumplist actions, are already available to developers in Edge Canary.

Beyond these features, Microsoft says it's improving the native notification setup to allow apps to add badges to their icons. An app could, for example, display the number of unread messages on the taskbar icon much like native applications can do today. The team is also exploring other types of badges, like allowing a thunder cloud badge to show on a weather app icon to indicate the current weather.

Finally, Chatterjee and Himango said that the team is looking to shift PWAs listed in the Microsoft Store to run on a Chromium-based engine sometime later this year. Until then, apps listed in the store will continue to run on the legacy EdgeHTML engine.

For more, the whole session is worth a look if you want a peek at what's coming to PWAs on Windows 10 and other platforms, or if you're a developer looking to build a PWA.

What you need to know

• You'll soon be able to uninstall PWAs using the Settings app, Control Panel, and Start Menu.
• Currently, uninstalling PWAs requires you to use the PWA's menu or settings in your browser.
• The new feature is already available in the developer version of Microsoft Edge.

Users will soon be able to uninstall PWAs using the Settings app, Start Menu, and the Control Panel (via Windows Latest). Microsoft submitted a commit to the Chromium project that adds an 'Uninstall Registry entry" into the Windows registry. This means that you can uninstall any PWA the same way that you'd uninstall an app.

The previous way to uninstall PWAs that were installed through a browser was to use an individual PWA's settings menu or uninstall the PWA through your browser's settings.

Uninstalling a PWA by right-clicking on it from the Start Menu, using the Settings app, or using the Control Panel is a more natural way of removing something from your PC and makes PWAs installed through browsers feel more like native apps.

The feature is already implemented on the beta versions of Microsoft Edge, and the goal is to have the same feature roll out to all Chromium browsers.

Cheap PC accessories we love

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience.

Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub ($10 at Amazon)

Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports.

Ikea Fixa Cable Management System ($11 at Amazon)

This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional.

NZXT Puck ($20 at Amazon)

This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.

Microsoft this week launched version 2.0 of its Progressive Web App (PWA) Builder (via ZDNet), bringing with it a new design along with the introduction of the "Feature Store," which houses code snippets you can add directly to your PWA.

The updated PWA Builder includes new snippets for developers to take advantage of, including a web share API and the async clipboard API. The "core" of the new experience, Microsoft says, however, is a new hub page, which gives developers a quick overview of information on their Manifest, Service Worker, and site security.

Also new in this update is the Feature Store, which is an update to the old features section. In the Feature Store, which acts as a resource for snippets that can be copied and pasted to your app to immediately take advantage of various APIs, including some that take advantage of the Microsoft Graph.

Looking forward, Microsoft provided a look at what it's working on for PWA Builder version 2.1. Part of those plans includes allowing developers to package their apps as a "Trusted Web Activity," which will allow them to be submitted to the Google Play Store. Microsoft is also making tweaks to PWA Builder to ensure it runs well on mobile devices.

"We also have other ideas that are on our roadmap including integrating Workbox into our Service Worker picker, new Snippets for the Feature Store, and potentially integration with Webhint to enable deeper testing of your PWA," Microsoft says.

If you want to experiment with PWA Builder, you can get started with the preview version at the PWA Builder website. The app is also completely open source, and Microsoft invites contributions at its Github page.

Cheap PC accessories we love

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience.

Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub ($10 at Amazon)

Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports.

Ikea Fixa Cable Management System ($11 at Amazon)

This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional.

NZXT Puck ($20 at Amazon)

This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.

PWAs are hybrid properties that possess the advantages of the web and conveniences of apps. They're discoverable, easily updated and platform-independent. In our connected world an ever-increasing amount of computing occurs in the cloud, browser-based activity dominates users' behavior and constant connectivity fosters leisure and professional collaboration.

Virtually everything we do on our devices has a connected component, and we (particularly digital natives) can barely conceive of computing that is not connected in some way. PWAs seem a natural fit for this reality. In its attempts to make its web and mobile experiences more efficient, Google has invested heavily in PWAs. And in an unlikely partnership Microsoft has been working collaboratively with its frenemy, Google, on the creation of standards to advance PWAs. Other companies including Mozilla and even Apple have shown interest in the technology.

Thus, in our app-driven connected environment, major industry-drivers are signaling that they see a future for PWAs. Appscope founders and childhood friends Carl Unger and Oskar Larsson also see this future. I hashed things out with Unger, and this is what I learned.

The what, where, why and when of Appscope

Appscope was started in April 2018 but officially launched in August. This young Stockholm, Sweden-based company is the brainchild of Unger and Larsson, and it is all about quality PWAs.

After years of developing for iOS, the duo found the app store's model to be problematic in numerous ways — long approval times (even for small updates), limited reach due to ecosystem restrictions, prohibitive development costs due to niche native technologies and non-transparent approval decisions, and more. These limitations motivated the duo to pursue the "openness and free spirit of the web platform."

Unlike native apps with dedicated app stores, however, finding quality PWAs is challenging. As many critics have noted not all PWAs are created equal. Unger and Larsson saw an opportunity to combine the discoverability advantage of native apps, with the openness and freedom of the web and Appscope (appsco.pe) was born.

More than just a storefront

Appscope isn't just a repository of PWAs. There is a deliberate mission driving the small company to have a major impact on a large and as yet unproven space. That won't be easy. Big players like Microsoft and Google have barely moved the needle on PWA adoption, developers are still enamored with traditional apps, and regular consumers are blissfully unaware PWAs exist. Appscope's ambitious mission is to change all of that by enlisting developers, building PWA awareness among consumers and organically growing the PWA ecosystem.

Appscope's foundation is an unwavering focus on the quality of the PWAs it features rather than the quantity. "To be listed on Appscope an app must meet the technical criteria for PWAs as well as provide an app-like meaningful experience to a broad audience," says Unger. With such a high standard 2018's already small pool of PWAs leaves an even smaller selection on Appscope's quality-focused platform. 272 to be exact, at the time of my discussions with Unger.

Compared to the millions of available apps in an app-focused environment, 272 PWAs sounds paltry, and it is. It's worth noting, however, that we're at the beginning of a computing shift that is becoming even more connected with Always Connected PCs (ACPC). Phones are getting larger, are folding and are becoming more capable of doing more complex tasks. New mobile PC form factors are on the horizon. And 5G and edge computing will keep all of our devices connected all of the time. This creates an environment ready to support the potential wave of PWAs industry-movers Google and Microsoft hope will follow their multi-million dollar investments in the technology.

So even with only 272 apps, with a growth rate of one to two per day (and a projected 300 by year-end), Appscope's positioning to feature only quality PWAs at the beginning of a potential wave of PWAs of varying quality levels is a strategic choice. Given that PWAs are virtually unknown to the general consumer and the technology is still young Unger wants to ensure Appscope's listed PWAs are great technical and user experience examples of PWAs.

Developers, developers, developers

Appscope is deliberate in its relationships with developers. It nurtures these relationships through reaching out, participation in developers forums, providing technical feedback, documentation on how to develop better PWAs and more. These efforts have resulted in the company moving from crawling the web (as Microsoft does) in search of PWAs, to receiving most PWA submissions directly from developers. Unger said:

Unger also stressed that Appscope's "process is focused on finding web apps that are PWA-first, rather than websites that complement their sites with PWA features without providing an app-like experience." This is a slower process toward achieving the critical mass needed to make PWAs mainstream that large quantities of PWAs would provide. Still, I think the strategy introduces a level of discipline that is better for the general education of what PWAs are, their adoption and growth in the long run.

Unger claims that compared to rivals its system is also more up-to-date than competitors who crawl the web for PWAs since active developer involvement is inherent to Appscope's strategy. The company complements this with daily audits to ensure its listed apps are continuously relevant. Unger believes that its collecting and encouraging high-quality PWA development positions it to attract more users from a broader audience. This, he thinks, further motivates developers.

Reaching the masses

Unger acknowledges that Microsoft and Google have done a great job developing the technology needed for PWA's (like the service workers that enable offline functionality). He believes, however, that now the PWA market must reach the audience beyond developers. Appscope's platform-independent discovery service, for a platform-independent apps, for an audience that uses multiple platforms, Unger believes, is just the tool, the PWA ecosystem needs to grow.

Unger believes that Microsoft will benefit from the increased and broader interest in PWAs Appscope is attempting to generate. Unlike Google that will be merely advancing its web-based computing strategy through PWAs, the technology for Microsoft, is critical to closing its infamous app gap.

Unger acknowledges that PWA's are the "great equalizer." Of course, some apps like social networks and content-focused apps make better PWAs than more hardware intensive applications, such as games. Still, Microsoft enthusiasts are looking toward PWAs as one of the tools in Microsofts app-gap-shrinking toolbox, (along with Project Centennial, Xamarin and others) to help make devices like Microsoft's Centaurus and Project Andromeda more relevant.

Why Google may benefit from PWAs more than Microsoft

Scoping out the future

As we approach the end of 2018, all major browsers and platforms now support PWAs. Windows 10 even natively supports PWAs. "We believe that PWAs are ready for mainstream adoption and hope 2019 will be the start of a growth period. We hope to not only benefit from but also to contribute to the industry growth. As the go-to place for finding PWAs, we expect to attract both more developers and users," says Unger.

Appscope started with 47 apps in April, hopes to reach 300 by year-end and expects to add 1,000 (though they hope for more) in 2019. The company is facing an uphill battle against competitors like PWA Directory, PWA.rocks and Outweb, a general lack of PWA awareness, a modest 25,000 monthly visitors, and the stigma bad PWA experiences has left many users feeling skeptical. Still, whatever the future holds for Appscope PWA's seem to be an inevitable part of our always-connected personal computing future.

Google and Microsoft are fierce competitors in AI, productivity tools, search and more. Additionally, Google's refusal to bring its first-party apps to Windows phone was a strategic blow that contributed to the platform's poor adoption.

Given this troubled history and present rivalry, it's ironic that Microsoft's Jeffrey Burtoft, principal program manager for partner app experiences, reached out to Google to forge a partnership in developing progressive web app (PWA) standards. Google had introduced service workers or scripts that run in the background, into its web-app solution that reduced the system's resource usage, allowing PWAs to work efficiently. Microsoft was intrigued by Google's approach which seemed superior to its own Universal Windows web-app strategy.

Microsoft had been investing in a Universal Windows web-app bridge called Westminster, which it merged with Google's PWA solution after the two joined forces. Though this partnership is seemingly the best chance Microsoft has to close the app gap, it may profit Google even more.

Related: PWAs, the great equalizer

Microsoft's PWA potential

Microsoft needs PWAs, Centennial apps and the whole of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) to succeed. Ironically, the company's historic lack of support for its ecosystem is counterintuitive to the resources it possesses and the dire state in which that ecosystem has languished. Microsoft's reaching out to Google for a partnership likely reflected a sense of desperation for a strategy that it realizes is a "Catch 22" that would benefit its own ecosystem while enhancing Android's and Chrome's growing threat to Windows.

PWAs could help Microsoft populate the Microsoft Store with a plethora of apps. Granted, some app categories don't translate well to PWAs, and PWAs may not have the quality or features of dedicated apps. Still, if the strategy is successful, PWAs would greatly benefit cellular PCs, Microsoft's Surface Go LTE category (and OEM devices it inspires) and Microsoft's rumored Project Andromeda pocket PC category.

As Microsoft pushes Always Connected PCs (ACPCs), it is forced to highlight their laptop productivity aspects since the touch-centric mobile platform (even for 2-in-1s with detachable keyboards) is weak. Surface Go has the same weakness. PWAs provide hope that the whole of the Windows 10 ecosystem would benefit from them, particularly since Windows 10 treats them as native universal apps. Such an outcome would make Microsoft's connected Windows PCs, particularly small mobile-focused devices like Surface Go or Surface Andromeda, more relevant.

Google's PWA play

Android is the most used mobile platform in a mobile-centric personal computing world. PWAs would benefit Google by reducing a user's need to download apps that consume device space and are frequently ignored once downloaded.

Furthermore, the mobile web and search are still highly frequented to accomplish tasks despite app stores boasting millions of apps. PWAs, which combine websites with the UI and other benefits of dedicated apps, optimize on this web-centric user behavior. Google's search and A.I. fortés could help it make PWAs in the Android and Chrome ecosystem a quick, seamless and rich experience.

Additionally, if PWAs become a "standard" computing experience, Chromebook efficiency and appeal could be boosted. Though not as popular outside of the U.S. education sector, Chromebooks are a growing segment. PWAs as part of Chrome make those devices even more practical.

PWAs' double-edged success

As personal computing becomes more connected, Google browser-based Chromebooks and web-based tools make its connected personal computing strategy appear forward-looking in some regards. Combined with Android's dominance of mobile, PWA's app-web solution fundamentally enhances Google's personal computing strategy by making web experiences on millions of popular Android phones and Chromebooks behave like native apps.

Microsoft is reportedly delaying Surface Andromeda to refine the OS and bolster the Windows ecosystem with PWAs. Though PWAs may be Microsoft's best chance to close the app gap, they're also Google's tool to make Chromebooks more relevant and Android and Chrome more powerful.

With the current ecosystem imbalance favoring Google, one can only hope Microsoft does its best to get as much value out of this PWA race as possible.

Back in February, just as news about Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) was growing Uber announced that it was ending support for its app for Windows 10. Sure enough, in June support was pulled.

Speculation that Uber, who was one of the first companies to embrace PWA with its m.uber.com website, would re-launch as a PWA in the Microsoft Store followed. Tonight, we have our answer as Uber's PWA is now available.

In the Microsoft Store, a new version that is 34MB in size has been launched for PC, Mobile, HoloLens, and Hub with the changelog of "updated to m.uber.com wrapper."

The Uber PWA lets users log in with their current accounts. A request for location services may be asked although it took a re-launch for the app to begin using those services. The app works on Wi-Fi and cellular connections as expected.

While the app is a far cry from the touch-up work that Twitter has done with its PWA for Windows 10 the app works as expected so far.

Presumably, other companies like Starbucks, Lyft, and others may also begin to replace their native apps with PWAs as this is the goal for a lot of companies looking to reign in app development costs.

Grab the new Uber PWA and let us know what you think in comments.

See Uber in the Microsoft Store

Further info about PWAs

• Progressive Web Apps (PWA): What they are, and what they mean for Microsoft
• Hands-on with the Twitter PWA for Windows 10
• First Windows 10 Progressive Web Apps (PWA) published by Microsoft hit the Store)
• PWAs: What's in it for Google and why Microsoft likes it too

Now that Windows 10 supports Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in the Microsoft Store, it's time to start looking at a few PWAs that are available online right now and that would be right at home in the Store. Bringing PWAs to the Store is an easy and convenient way for developers to bring apps to Windows 10 without having to port an existing app from iOS or Android. And PWAs are universal, across Windows 10, and other platforms.

Since PWAs are basically just websites that can be accessed on any platform, developers can build a PWA and have that app run on any platform that supports web apps, which includes Windows, Android and iOS. Of course, PWA apps will also help Microsoft in any future mobile efforts, as a lack of apps was one of Windows Mobile's biggest criticisms.

Here's a list of PWAs we'd love to see in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10.

Uber

Uber's Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app no longer works, unfortunately, as the developer decided it wasn't worth updating because not many people used it. Uber has a neat PWA, however. Since Uber already has an app listing, all it would need to do is switch out the UWP with a PWA, and functionality would be restored. Check out the PWA here.

Tinder

Are you looking for a date? On Windows 10 you're not. Tinder unfortunately never built a native app for Windows, but it has a sweet PWA that would work great on Windows 10. Finding a date on your PC could come in handy if you're at work and can't be seen on your phone. Check out the PWA here.

Google Maps and Photos

Google doesn't often play nice with Microsoft, but it would be really nice if we saw Google Maps and Google Photos show up in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10. While many people use Windows, not everyone is part of Microsoft's ecosystem. Lots of people use Google services for things like email and photos, so it would be great to see the Photos app in the Store for users that need it. Check out the Maps PWA here. and Photos here.

Flipboard

Flipboard actually has an app in the Microsoft Store, but it's an old Windows 8 app that's pretty basic. Flipboard could switch out its old Metro app with a new PWA app and update it with native support for Windows 10, with things like the Share menu, Live tile, and actionable notifications. Check out the Flipboard PWA here.

Starbucks

Coffee drinker? Starbucks has a PWA that might benefit you. You can check out all the different coffee on offer, and even sign in to see your Starbucks Rewards. Check out the Starbucks PWA here.

Paper Planes

Paper Planes is a cool little "game" that lets you send a virtual paper plane around the world for someone to open up. You can also catch paper planes sent from other people, and find out where the paper plane was sent from. It's a simple idea and a great example of the kind of app you can build with PWA. Check out the Paper Planes PWA here.

Guitar Tuner

If you play guitar, a tuner app would come in handy. Guitar Tuner is a PWA that listens via your microphone and tells you the Octave of the sound that's playing.Check out the PWA here.

What do you think?

Those are my picks for PWA apps I'd love to see in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10. Do you have any thoughts on PWAs you'd love to see in the Store? Let us know in the comments.

Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs, are an emerging technology that allows developers to make a unified experience for their website or service across various platforms. We've spoken about them at length in the past, and now that they are officially supported on Windows 10, it's time to take a look at the best of the first wave of PWAs.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the biggest names to switch over to the PWA model. They've officially replaced their older, and rarely updated, UWP app with a progressive web app. Because of this, Windows 10 users now have access to newer Twitter features such as being able to use 280 characters within tweets.

Twitter is actively upgrading their PWA, adding new features on what seems like a weekly basis and discussing their plans, including adding the much-requested dark mode. It's not the perfect replacement for the old Twitter app. It's still missing multiple account support and dark mode, but it's a great example of the PWA platform leading to more updates on Windows 10, especially when compared to when Twitter outsourced the development of their app.

Twitter has replaced the previous version of their app with their PWA so you can download it from the Microsoft Store.

See in Microsoft Store

Starbucks

If you can't go to work without grabbing a hot drink, or you just enjoy a roasted beverage, the Starbucks PWA can save you some time. You can use the PWA to browse their menu, add items to your cart, customize your order, and view nutritional information.

To use the Starbucks PWA, you have to be in the United States, but then it's as simple as going to Starbucks' website.

Pinterest

Pinterest switched over to the PWA model as well, and it helps Windows 10 users more than users of other platforms — it's the first Pinterest app for Windows 10. In adopting PWA, Pinterest has opened to door to users on their PCs having a similar experience to those on other platforms.

You can pin your favorite content, browse through boards, and access all of Pinterest's standard features from within a clean environment. You can access it by going to Pinterest's website.

Uber

Uber has a good track record of supporting Windows, and with their switch to a PWA, it's a safe bet that Windows 10 users will have access to all of Uber's core features going forward. The PWA works like you'd expect an app to, allowing you to book a car and use Uber's service as usual.

To access the PWA, you have to go the mobile version of Uber's website.

Tinder

While Microsoft is working on connecting developers to the Microsoft Store, you can work on finding a different kind of connection with Tinder. The PWA supports Tinder's standard interface including liking, super liking, sending messages, and more. I admit that I've never used Tinder, but the PWA seems to work well.

You access the PWA by just going to Tinder's website.

A promising start

The first wave of PWAs include some big players from a variety of industries. They aren't going to close the app gap instantly, but people on Windows 10 can have hope for more big names to become available in the future.

There are many naysayers of progressive web apps, but both Twitter and Starbucks discussed this week how they increase engagement and are being used by people on desktops. Due to this and the fact that the platform as a whole is backed by Google, it likely is here to stay.

While there's no one place to find a cumulative list of PWAs that are available, two good sites are Appscope and PWARocks.

It's only the first day of Build 2018, but we've already seen a flurry of announcements about AI, the intelligent edge, and new developer tools. Somewhat buried in the whirlwind of announcements, however, is that Microsoft has launched a preview of the Teams app for the Microsoft Store -- and it's a Progressive Web App (PWA).

Microsoft originally promised Teams would be one of the first PWAs to hit the Microsoft Store during its Edge Web Summit in 2017. PWAs only just began arriving on the Microsoft Store alongside the April 2018 Update, so Microsoft's timing is certainly in line here. The only catch? The app is only available for Windows 10 S / S-Mode devices for now.

From Microsoft:

The Microsoft Store app comes alongside new features Microsoft is debuting for Teams as well. Those include a new mixed reality experience called Microsoft Remote Assist, which interfaces with Teams. The service is also getting adaptive card support soon in preview, which allows developers to send actionable cards from their bots, connectors, and extensions. "Adaptive cards allow you to send more flexible content in conversations and are supported on other Microsoft platforms such as Outlook, Windows, and Cortana," Microsoft says.

For more, you can check out all of what's new and what's been recently added in Teams at Microsoft.

See at Microsoft Store

The steady march of Progressive Web Apps (PWA) hitting the Microsoft Store continues, this time with an official release from Trivago. A listing for the hotel comparison app originally popped up in the Store last week but it wasn't working at the time. However, the kinks appear to have been worked out, and the app is now available and fully functional.

Unlike the previous waves of PWAs, which were published by Microsoft, Trivago is published by the company itself. And as with other PWAs, you can do everything with the app that you'd expect to be able to do by perusing the Trivago website in your browser.

You can easily and quickly search for hotels nearby specific locations, find deals, and book a room. There are also plenty of filtering options for things like price, hotel class, guest rating, and distance from significant landmarks. Reviews, photos, and information for each hotel are all easily accessible as well. Overall, the app feels pretty snappy and not all that different from using a native Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app.

PWAs are part of a push by Microsoft to get more apps on the Microsoft Store. Microsoft is relying on two ways to do this: developers can submit PWAs themselves, or the Microsoft Store will automatically index quality PWAs with the Bing web crawler and publish them itself. The ultimate goal is to provide native app-like experiences without requiring as much work from developers.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA): What they are, and what they mean for Microsoft

With the Windows 10 April 2018 Update set to arrive on April 30, it's likely we'll see more and more PWAs hit the Microsoft Store in the coming weeks and months. Expect to hear more about PWAs at Microsoft's Build 2018 conference in May as well.

See at Microsoft Store

Following the first wave of Progressive Web Apps (PWA) to hit the Microsoft Store earlier in April, Microsoft has published another batch. In all, there are six new apps being added to the 14 previously published by the Microsoft Store.

Here's a look at what's new:

• Subway
• Trip Check
• HealthyWay
• Tom's Guide
• The A.V. Club
• Decider

These PWAs are part of a new push by Microsoft to get more apps on the Microsoft Store. Microsoft is relying on two ways to do this: developers can submit PWAs themselves, or the Microsoft Store will automatically index quality PWAs with the Bing web crawler and add them to the Microsoft Store. The benefit, as Microsoft explained in a recent blog post, is that users get access to app-like experiences while lightening the load on developers.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA): What they are, and what they mean for Microsoft

Over time, and following the release of the Windows 10 Redstone 4 update, we'll likely see more and more PWAs hit the Microsoft Store over time. We Expect to hear more about PWAs at Microsoft's Build 2018 conference in May as well.

Thanks for the tip, Brent!

Updated April 16, 2018: As I speculated may happen, both apps have now been pulled from the Microsoft Store. It's still possible we may see official Uber and YouTube PWAs hit the Microsoft Store at some point, but it could be a while. The original story follows.

Last week marked the introduction of the first group of Progressive Web Apps (PWA) on the Microsoft Store, all published by Microsoft itself. Now, it looks like a third-party developer is looking to get in on the action with a couple of big-name apps: YouTube and Uber (via Reddit).

Both apps are published by a developer called Pladoo Interactive, so they don't have the official backing of either YouTube or Uber. Additionally, they don't look to be PWAs in the strict sense, even though they're labeled as such. Rather, both apps are web wrappers that provide access to each service. The YouTube app, for example, simply loads the website in an app window, complete with banner advertisements and all.

In the description of each app, Pladoo Interactive says that both are a part of a "Windows Revival Project" it is undertaking, the objective of which is to "bring apps to Windows 10 Mobile using PWA based apps or even native apps." The developer promises more apps are to come.

As a basic way to access each service, the apps do their job. However, because the Edge platform on Windows 10 Mobile doesn't support PWA features like service workers, which can provide push notifications from the web. If you're looking for a native YouTube app, there are other third-party options worth checking out. However, Uber recently dropped support for its Windows 10 app, so this version may be a viable alternative.

It's worth noting that, since neither app is an official release from YouTube or Uber, there's a chance that either company could try to pull them. However, if you want to give either a shot, they're up for grabs on the Microsoft Store now.

• See YouTube PWA at Microsoft Store
• See Uber PWA at Microsoft Store

The first grouping of Microsoft-published and approved Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are now live in the Microsoft Store for those on Windows 10 build 1803 (aka Redstone 4). This batch is the first of what is expected to be hundreds of modified websites merged with Microsoft's app platform.

Microsoft has promised that PWAs will be treated as "first-class citizens" in Windows 10. That's not just programming talk either as the hybrid apps – a cross between PWA and the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) – will often be published by Microsoft themselves.

That process is now going forward with fourteen apps now live in the Store in addition to the official Twitter PWA.

The listings were first observed by the Italian site Aggiornamenti Lumia who documented the app listings. Interestingly, the apps are all published under the name "Microsoft Store."

The first grouping of PWAs in the Microsoft Store include:

• Skyscanner.
• Student Doctor Network.
• The Penny Hoarder.
• OfferFinder.net.
• Ziprecruiter.
• Space.
• Oyster.
• Men's Wearhouse.
• ASOS.
• Build.com.
• Airfarewatchdog.
• myCARFAX.
• Travelzoo.
• Daytrip.

Microsoft has previously detailed how they will get PWAs into the Store without relying on companies to publish themselves. In a recent Microsoft Edge Developer blog post:

There are two paths to get those PWAs into the Store:

1. Developers can proactively submit PWAs to the Microsoft Store.
2. The Microsoft Store, powered by the Bing crawler, will automatically index selected quality PWAs.

Today's soft-launch falls in line with step number two:

Eventually, the process will be fully automated with PWAs auto-populating the Microsoft Store. Owners of those sites can reclaim their PWAs under their ownership later for further development or download statistics.

Microsoft is expected to detail further plans around PWAs at its Build developer conference in early May. Also, at least three deep-dive sessions into PWAs will be held at Build for developers to learn more about the hybrid-web platform.

Interestingly, all the PWAs are also available for Windows 10 Mobile users, though it is unclear if they will get the full benefits of push notifications, offline cache support, and deeper linkage to the OS through Service Workers.

Further info about PWAs

• Progressive Web Apps (PWA): What they are, and what they mean for Microsoft
• Hands-on with the Twitter PWA for Windows 10
• How to set a website as a PWA using Edge for Android
• PWAs: What's in it for Google and why Microsoft likes it too
• PWAs may be the great equalizer for Microsoft, Google and Apple

With the coming release of Windows 10 Redstone 4 in April Microsoft is also letting free progressive web apps (PWA) in the Microsoft Store.

I've already done a lot of theoretical talk about the PWA platform, why Google is behind it, and how it will level the app field across platforms, but we now have a real live example in the form of Twitter.

Twitter's PWA is live in the Microsoft Store for those on the Windows Insider Program (or build 17133) and it replaces the older Universal Windows Platform (UWP) native app.

To be clear, the current Twitter PWA is still a preview. Things like Service Workers – one of the core components of PWAs that handle offline usage, notifications, and more – won't be live until April when Microsoft enables the feature through the Store.

Other things like dark mode, video uploads, and pasting images to the new tweet field are also missing but are expected in the coming weeks.

PWAs and more specifically PWA + UWP hybrids on Windows 10 are still very new for everyone including web developers. How they evolve will be fascinating, but for now, there's a lot of promise already here including excellent scrolling, adaptive scaling, and it feels like a native app.

Microsoft and other companies are expected to push many PWAs to the Microsoft Store in the coming weeks.

Services like Starbucks, Instagram, Uber, Lyft, Pinterest, and even Google services are all already formatted for PWA making the potential jump to Windows 10 a breeze. Watch this space.

Further info about PWAs

• How to set a website as a PWA using Edge for Android
• PWAs: What's in it for Google and why Microsoft likes it too
• PWAs may be the great equalizer for Microsoft, Google and Apple

Microsoft has had a bit of an app problem over the years when it comes to both attracting developers and developers continuing to support the platform. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are one of the latest tools out there that Microsoft is going to take advantage of, and that's what we're talking about today in the Windows Central forums.

More: Progressive Web Apps (PWA) may be the great equalizer

PWAs aren't just apps we'll be seeing in the Store, though that has already begun for some with Twitter pushing out its PWA as a replacement to its old, forgotten Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app. "Normal" folks will have to wait until the Spring Creators Update to use it, but you can get the same experience right now by using the Microsoft Edge browser.

Windows 10 users can already experience PWAs but it's not entirely clear which services are supporting them. There are ones we do know about, such as Starbucks in the U.S., Uber and Google Maps, but there might be others out there we don't know about. That's where you come in.

If you've already found some great PWAs, hit the forum thread below and let us know what they are!

From the forums: Progressive Web App (PWA) list

The UWP Twitter app for Windows 10 had more or less been left for dead. It hadn't been updated in forever, and was missing simple changes to the Twitter service such as the increase from 180 to 240 character tweets. Today, however, Twitter has finally updated its Windows 10 app, changing it from a UWP to PWA. This is good news.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA): What they are, and what they mean for Microsoft

The new Twitter app looks identical to the mobile Twitter PWA website you can find online, except now it's wrapped in a window that makes the app feel native. It also supports push notifications, meaning you don't have to have the app open to see any replies to tweets. It doesn't appear to support live tiles just yet, however.

Because it's the PWA version of Twitter, it has all the latest changes and enhancements you can find on the Twitter service, for better or worse. This includes character increase in tweets, bookmarking tweets, changing to the Twitter timeline algorithm, and a whole lot more.

The benefit here is Twitter no longer has to properly maintain the Twitter app for Windows 10. Now that it's a PWA, any changes it makes to the mobile website should automatically be applied to the PWA app, which can run in any platform that supports PWAs. This should mean Windows 10 users won't get left behind when big changes are introduced to the Twitter service.

Microsoft's Kyle Pflug, who works on Edge, chimed in on Twitter noting that all the features aren't here yet. When the "Spring Creators Update" rolls out more features will come online:

The new Twitter PWA app is rolling out as an update for the existing Twitter app for Windows 10, which means you might have to reauthenticate your account once the update is installed. Let us know in the comments what you think about this new update!

Download Twitter for Windows 10 at the Microsoft Store

_Thanks for the tip, @win10fan!

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are going coming online in 2018 with Google expected to make a big push mid-year and Microsoft with native support in Windows 10 Redstone 4 in the coming weeks.

If you have an Android phone and are using the Microsoft Edge browser, you can start to use many of the sites already.

Here are two ways to get a PWA website to act like a typical app on your Android phone.

See at Google Play Store

For those who want a deeper dive into what PWAs are and why they will matter for all OS platforms starting this year, check my in-depth article and video explainer:

Progressive Web Apps (PWA): What they are, and what they mean for Microsoft

Which sites support PWA?

Currently, there is no master list of sites that support PWA. Luckily, there are some big ones, including:

• Starbucks (U.S.) (starbucks.com).
• Tinder (tinder.com).
• Google Maps (maps.google.com).
• Uber (m.uber.com).
• Lyft (ride.lyft.com).
• Twitter Lite (lite.twitter.com).
• Instagram (Instagram.com).
• Pinterest (pinterest.com).
• 2048 (game) (github.com).
• Outlook.com (outlook.com).

Other major sites include Alibaba, Medium, Flipboard, Snapdeal, Trivagao, The Weather Channel, The Financial Times, Pokedex.org, GitHub Explorer, Flipkart, Offline Wikipedia, and Forbes. And there are thousands more.

How you know a site is PWA-enabled is tricky. Websites rarely announce such a feature, but one way you usually can tell is when you login to the site. That usually prompts a pop-up notification asking you to pin to your Home. The site may also ask to send you notifications – these are PWA features.

You can see this in action below when going to mobile.twitter.com and what happens after I login:

While that may seem like a nag (or even spammy) that is how a PWA-enabled site lets you know it can act as app. (Microsoft is getting around this by putting PWA-enabled apps into the Microsoft Store as "real" apps avoiding confusion or discoverability issues).

So, problem solved. You pinned the Twitter Lite app to your Home screen and you now have a PWA.

But what if you said 'no' to the prompt? Twitter won't ask you each time you go to mobile.twitter.com to pin to your Home screen, so how do you get it back?

Fixing problems: login in (again)

One trick that usually resets the PWA prompt on websites is just logoff and login again from that website.

If that doesn't work, try logging off and then clear the browser's cache (tap the ellipsis > Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data) and then re-login. That should cause the PWA-prompt to reappear.

Use 'Add to Home screen'

One easier trick than the above is simply using Edge's 'Add to Home Screen' feature.

While a user can add any website as a pin to their Home screen – even if it's not PWA-enabled – when the site has a PWA this will create that necessary shortcut. Here is how to do it:

1. Ellipsis menu (lower right corner)
2. Choose Add to Home Screen
3. Select Add and OK after the prompts

If you now go and launch Twitter through that shortcut suddenly it looks like a full-fledged application with no Edge browser "chrome" (boarders, controls).

And that is how a PWA looks and works!

Further info about PWAs

• PWAs: What's in it for Google and why Microsoft likes it too
• PWAs may be the great equalizer for Microsoft, Google and Apple

Over the last year, the discussion around Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) has grown in the tech media as more browsers began to adopt support.

But what exactly is a PWA and how does it differ from old web-wrapper apps? Are they another reach-for-the-stars attempt by Microsoft, or a legit alternative to native apps on mobile and PC?

Microsoft recently detailed its plans in depth for Windows 10 Redstone 4 for PWAs, the Edge browser, and the Microsoft Store. I also wrote a primer on who is really behind PWAs and why.

But in today's video, I want to answer some specific questions about PWAs, Microrosft, and what it means for Windows 10.

Related: PWAs may be the great equalizer for Microsoft, Google and Apple

PWAs – Who is on board?

Besides Apple, Microsoft, and Google putting support for PWAs into their respective browsers, many companies are already configuring their websites for adaptive PWA status. Here are just a few of the major brands that are now PWA-enabled:

• Starbucks (U.S.) (starbucks.com).
• Tinder (tinder.com).
• Google Maps (maps.google.com).
• Uber (m.uber.com).
• Lyft (ride.lyft.com).
• Twitter Lite (lite.twitter.com).
• Instagram (Instagram.com).
• Pinterest (pinterest.com).

There are some limitations, however, at least with Google Maps, which does not yet do turn-by-turn navigation.

Alibaba, Medium, Flipboard, Snapdeal, Trivagao, The Weather Channel, The Financial Times, Pokedex.org, GitHub Explorer, Flipkart, Offline Wikipedia, and Forbes have also all launched PWA-enabled websites.

Even games can be PWAs. Fancy yourself some official 2048? Head here on your PWA-enabled browser to try it out.

Even Microsoft's online services, like Outlook.com, are now PWA-enabled. There are currently thousands of PWA-enabled websites, and more companies are enabling adaptive website controls with Service Workers to meet compatibility.

Pinterest wrote a detailed blog post about its experience in switching to a PWA-enabled website, which is a great read.

With access to cameras, offline data storage, GPS, motion sensors, notifications, and face detection and bio-authentication, there are very few "limits" to PWAs compared to the old web-wrappers. When combined with Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform (UWP), PWAs become even more native-like with additional abilities.

Trying out PWAs

If you have an Android phone with 7.1.1 or higher and the Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser, you can visit any of the sites mentioned above to try PWA out today.

The process to get the site into PWA mode varies a bit. Most sites require you to log in first, which then prompts a user request to "Add to Home" and send notifications. That shortcut that is created is now the PWA for that site. Users of Microsoft Edge on Android can use the "Add to Home screen" feature in the ellipsis menu to force it.

For those on Windows 10 using the Fast Ring Insider Build and Microsoft Edge, you can also try out PWAs. Enabling a website's notifications will integrate them into the Windows Action Center, just like any app, and users can pin the PWA to their Start menu or Task Bar.

PWA discoverability is a problem

Perhaps the one issue with PWA-enabled sites acting like apps is discoverability. Users still can go to the Google Play Store and install Instagram or Twitter. They can also pin both sites as PWAs to their Home screen resulting in two instances of the "app."

Google has not revealed its plans to get around this. Instagram or Twitter, in theory, could replace their apps in the Google Play Store with a PWA version if Google lets that happen.

That latter method is what Microsoft is doing. Instead of letting people accidentally "discover" PWAs through a web browser they are just adding them to the Microsoft Store. After all, if you want the Pinterest app, your first point of discoverability is the Store to see if there is an app.

How Microsoft will do this is fascinating. From the recent Microsoft Edge Developer blog post:

There are two paths to get those PWAs into the Store:

1. Developers can proactively submit PWAs to the Microsoft Store.
2. The Microsoft Store, powered by the Bing crawler, will automatically index selected quality PWAs.

That second step is critical. Microsoft is not relying on websites to manually add PWAs to the Microsoft Store for listing. At first, the company will add the best ones to the Store manually and later the Bing crawler will do it automatically.

That's an aggressive strategy for PWAs, but Microsoft believes in treating the web-apps as "first-class citizens" on Windows 10.

Will PWA "solve" mobile for Microsoft?

Finally, the big question is does this help Microsoft at all with the app-gap problem? It certainly does not hurt, and yes, does improve things.

Whether or not the PWA-UWP hybrid solution matters long term for Windows 10 – and specifically Microsoft's next mobile push with Andromeda – remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, if you have tried a PWA on your Android phone like Twitter, Uber, or others, you should be impressed with how native it feels. The fact is, many companies are moving towards the PWA model because it's cheaper, easier to maintain, uses less bandwidth, and lets them hit all platforms without having to code for them independently.

PWAs: What's in it for Google and why Microsoft likes it too

For consumers, it means "apps" from big companies, but also your local dinner, florist, or car shop who just cannot afford to make apps for Android, iOS or even Windows.

You should expect a lot of news around PWAs in 2018 from Google and Microsoft. Once Redstone 4 ships this spring, consumers can expect a cadre of new "apps" in the Microsoft Store, which is only a good thing.

For more information about the roadmap of PWAs, expect Google and Microsoft to talk about it at their I/O and Build conferences in May.

Thanks to Rance P. for the submitted questions answered in the video!

We're back with another exciting episode of the Window Central Podcast. This week, Daniel Rubino is off on vacation, so Zac Bowden is joined with our apps specialist Sean Endicott to talk about New Windows 10 builds, Windows 10 S mode, PWAs, BUILD 2018 and more!

Help us make this show the best Microsoft podcast in the world. Tell your friends, share it on social media using the hashtag #wcpodcast, and give us a five-star rating wherever you download your podcasts! Thank you so much for listening!

We've got two options for you, either the video podcast or the audio podcast, both featuring the same content.

Show Notes

• 1:01 Windows 10 Build
• 6:39 Microsoft announces PWA plans
• 17:24 Windows 10 in S mode
• 33:27 BUILD 2018 announced
• 40:09 Why I prefer the Surface Laptop

Subscribe to the podcast

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Hosts

• Zac Bowden
• Sean Endicott

Make this show great by participating!

Send in your comments, questions, and feedback to:

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Microsoft has today outlined its plans for introducing Progressive Web Apps (PWA) to Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge. In a blog post on the official Windows Blog, Microsoft states that starting with Redstone 4, PWAs will be supported in both Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge with service workers, and has outlined how it plans to get PWAs into the hands of users.

Starting very soon, Microsoft will start crawling and indexing PWAs that it thinks are high-quality enough to be listed in the Microsoft Store. Developers will, of course, be able to submit their own apps, but Microsoft will also be adding PWAs to the Store automatically, meaning the Store should soon see an influx of new Windows 10 apps powered by PWA.

The company says it has indexed over 1.5 million PWAs, and will roll out a small selection of them in the Microsoft Store over the coming weeks. This is a huge deal, as it means more apps will now be available on the Microsoft Store with little to no effort at all. Developers can, if they wish, add support for specific Windows 10 features such as Actionable Notifications, live tile support and more, too.

Microsoft is all in on PWAs, and that's a good thing. This should, hopefully, keep UWP afloat, at least for now. Developers can build an app that targets PWA, and can be deployed across Google, Apple and Microsoft. From there, if the developer wants, they can add support for specific platforms such as live tile support on Windows 10. Let's hope PWA helps Microsoft push its Windows Store efforts further, because right now, it's somewhat lacking.

The current app model is robust and thriving but has shortcomings.

Millions of available apps make discoverability difficult, developers find building and maintaining apps for different ecosystems a challenge, and app development can be expensive. In an increasingly connected world, PWAs may solve these problems. They're universal, easy to build and maintain, cost-effective and searchable. Critics contend that Microsoft, Google, and Apple would never adopt a single app platform that challenges the established model. But those critics are wrong.

Google's web app progress

Google references its collaboration with Microsoft on PWAs.

Google's PWA journey began with running browser apps in Chrome on Android. This was resource intensive, however, and presented UI and other issues. Service workers, or scripts that the browser runs in the background and enable features that don't need a webpage or user interaction, were introduced to mitigate these resource issues.

Service workers use JavaScript to handle resource loading for web pages without network access. Simply put, because of service workers, PWAs are websites that continue to live on the web while an app shell and configuration file are downloaded to a user's device, which enables the native app experience. PWAs combine the best of the web with the engagement and experience of apps such as notifications and background syncing.

In fact, PWA and native apps, like Google's native Weather and PWA apps, are virtually identical. PWAs also allow app icons, full-screen display without the address bar, are installable, and have fast on and offline functionality.

Google's ensuring that Android treats PWAs like native apps. Google's also transitioning its Sports, Traffic, and others web properties to PWA. If this sounds familiar, it should. Microsoft's "Westminster" app bridge converts web apps to UWP apps, which have native app functionality and are distributed through the Microsoft Store.

Still, Google's solution intrigued Microsoft and in a move that might surprise loyalists, Microsoft reached out to Google and the two have been working together on PWAs ever since.

Microsoft progresses with PWAs

Microsoft's Jeffrey Burtoft, principal program manager for partner app experiences, said, "We met with Google about a year and a half ago, to see if these two things [Westminster apps and PWAs] were really the same thing ... we decided that we would move forward together, and provide a single way for web developers to build apps that run on all platforms."

Microsoft subsequently merged its Westminster app bridge with Google's PWA solution. The two companies are following the same standards for PWAs where common functions for their distinct platforms overlap. Where platform-specific functionality is concerned, like Live Tiles, the solutions are applied accordingly.

Like Android Windows, (not just Edge), will treat PWAs as it does native apps beginning with Redstone 4 this April. Service workers were introduced in an earlier build. PWAs in Windows will be capable of UWP features like Cortana integration, notifications, Live Tiles and more. They'll be distributed through the Microsoft Store and as on Android, will be indistinguishable from natives apps.

Is Apple onboard?

Critics have asserted Apple would never embrace PWAs. According to Apple's Web Technologies Evangelist, Johnathan Davis, however, it already has:

And an excerpt from the Webkit's release notes reads:

Though Apple's adopting PWAs, it may not join Google and Microsoft's collaboration on common standards. Still, since these companies and Mozilla are embracing this platform-agnostic app development approach, developers can build for multiple ecosystems with ease.

I've predicted PWAs will become more mainstream this year as these corporations begin pushing them. Microsoft Build, Google I/O and Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), I anticipate, will reveal each company's plans for PWAs.

PWAs, indexing and search

Native apps require entities to add deep links from their apps to their websites. Indexing or deep-link failures can occur when changes to the app or website are made, however.

PWAs, because of their hybrid app-web nature, are already indexed on the web, and are self-contained apps. This eliminates the challenges of maintaining deep link consistency between apps and websites. Additionally, the Microsoft Store will search the web for PWAs and users can download them like native apps.

PWAs capabilities match the device they're on. A PWA on the desktop may be more feature-rich than on mobile. Admittedly, not all apps transition well to PWAs, but most will. The progressive adoption of PWAs will, therefore, coexist to some extent, with current apps.

A connected computing future

Since Windows 10 will treat PWAs as native apps, Microsoft's rumored folding mobile device category (and all Windows devices), which will run Windows Core OS, will benefit from PWA adoption. Folded, unfolded or connected to an external display, CShell will adapt this device UI to the user's context and PWAs will adapt as well.

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Microsoft recently announced that Progressive Web Apps (PWA) will soon be supported by the Microsoft Edge web browser. Moreover, a few apps hitting the Windows Store – like Slack and Trello – are now mixing PWA with Electron and elements of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).

But why PWA and not just native, ground-up UWP apps? Here are a few reasons why PWA will become more prevalent and not just for Microsoft but Google and Apple too.

Who is behind PWA?

Ironically, Microsoft is not the biggest proponent of PWA – at least not yet. Google defined the phrase and criteria set forth for PWA in 2015. Alex Russell, a Google Chrome engineer, wrote what is considered ground zero for the PWA movement in an article called "Progressive Web Apps: Escaping Tabs Without Losing Our Soul". Google solidified the initiative in a dedicated page pushing the concept forward.

Currently, the Chrome browser is the only official browser that supports PWA, but Microsoft announced Edge is coming on board, too.

All of this may be surprising. After all, Google does not have an "app gap" problem like Microsoft, yet they are the ones pushing PWA. Microsoft also sees the benefit. Back in Microsoft Build 2016, Microsoft talked extensively about the long-term viability of "apps for everything" as being dated and beginning to fade. In the future, artificial intelligence, PWA, more powerful local hardware (e.g., your phone, or Windows cellular PC), cloud computing ("The Microsoft Edge") and ubiquitous 4G data connections will take over.

What is a PWA?

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are more than just traditional "web wrappers," but not entirely native apps either. Web wrappers were just a web browser encased in a squared window. However, they lacked things like integration with the OS (e.g., notifications), synchronizing data in the background, and most importantly offline usage.

PWAs, mainly, fix all of that with apps that feel native but rely more heavily on the web. Much of that is thanks to Cache and Push APIs that make PWA more satisfying to use.

There are specific criteria set for what makes a PWA, and a lot of it has to do with the rise of multiple converging technologies, including:

• HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, and Service Workers
• The abundance of low-cost, affordable, and fast 4G LTE data
• Powerful processors that can render and load data

As defined by Google the criteria for a proper PWA include:

• Progressive - Work for every user, regardless of browser choice because they're built with progressive enhancement as a core tenet.
• Responsive - Fit any form factor: desktop, mobile, tablet, or forms yet to emerge.
• Connectivity independent - Service workers allow work offline, or on low-quality networks.
• App-like - Feel like an app to the user with app-style interactions and navigation.
• Fresh - Always up-to-date thanks to the service worker update process.
• Safe - Served via HTTPS to prevent snooping and ensure content hasn't been tampered with.
• Discoverable - Are identifiable as "applications" thanks to W3C manifests[6] and service worker registration scope allowing search engines to find them.
• Re-engageable - Make re-engagement easy through features like push notifications.
• Installable - Allow users to "keep" apps they find most useful on their home screen without the hassle of an app store.
• Linkable - Easily shared via a URL and do not require complex installation.

PWAs, in that sense, are thought of as hybrid web apps. If that sounds familiar, it is because Microsoft Desktop Bridge (Project Centennial) is also a hybrid system of classic Win32 programming and modern UWP APIs. Hybrid apps that mix and match feature sets are a popular topic these days and we'll be seeing more of it going forward.

Example of PWA (and how UWP makes it better)

One of the most prominent examples of a modern PWA is Twitter. If you navigate to mobile.twitter.com on your phone or even desktop web browser (doesn't matter which browser) you can experience what a PWA is like when it is just a website.

Now, take that site, pack it into a Microsoft APPX file (UWP) and list it in the Store and you have a new Twitter app that supports notifications and a native-like experience. Microsoft's UWP fills in the gaps of PWA with support for the notifications in the Action Center, Live Tiles, Cortana integration, Share targets and more.

Using web Service Workers and caching the "app" can receive live updates and even work offline.

While the PWA-UWP app can be updated at any time thanks to the Windows Store a lot of the content is dynamic meaning companies can make changes on the backend first cutting down time of delivery to customers. Moreover, due to the criteria noted above like support for HTTPS and the Store listing ("siloed apps") customers know that the app is safe.

Why PWA, anyway?

The question as to why we see a new push for PWA is complicated as there are three players involved: (1) The company or service (2) App developers (3) consumers. PWAs affect all of them in separate ways, not all good.

The simplest explanation for PWA for a company is money. A single professional developer could start at around $50,000 a year for a salary plus retention. Many large corporations with complex apps may have a "team" of developers pushing that cost into hundreds of thousands of dollars. While a good argument could be made that companies like Amazon, Yelp, or Spotify can "afford" such an expense, your local restaurant, car dealership, or flower shop cannot. PWAs bring a democratization of sorts to the app world for big players and small who now get a shot in an App Store while delivering a native-like app experience.

For developers, making a PWA is significantly easier than coding a native one from scratch. That's not necessarily great news, as it means companies may opt for a cheaper PWA rather than sophisticated native platform as web standards and technology improves.

For consumers, it is a bit mixed. PWAs can bring a pleasant experience (see Trello), but they likely won't match the look and feel of an authentic "native" app. At least not now. For many services, PWAs make sense, such as a flower delivery service, bus tickets, or a local restaurant. You won't be using these apps on a daily basis, nor do they require the particularly deep functionality of a native email client or messaging app.

Nonetheless, for consumers at least, some of that will change. We recently covered the UWP app Clatter, which is a messaging app that lets you connect to Skype, GroupMe, Google Hangouts, Slack, WhatsApp, and more all through web services in a single app. The cost to develop that app was likely extremely low, and the experience is not bad. That will only improve over time as web standards improve and expand.

Google, of course, also benefits. Since PWAs are treated like JavaScript sites that means when Google "crawls" the web those PWAs can show up for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. That's also good for publishers – like us – who "lose" web traffic by offering a native app.

Finally, Microsoft benefits because there are just more apps in its Store.

The app model is changing

I've mentioned on our podcast numerous times that the "make a native app for everything" model is not sustainable. The idea that in 2020 an app store from Apple or Google will have millions of apps creates a discoverability problem. Then there are the associated costs with native apps, which effectively blocks companies with small budgets from competing.

Services like Electron, which power apps like Twitch, Slack, Shopify, Discord, Github Desktop, Cryptocat, and more along with Google's PWA standards will push more unique, niche, and low-cost apps to consumers on all platforms. Cross-platform support with PWA and Electron are already its biggest selling points so that Android and iOS can make use of it too.

Microsoft may focus on desktops with UWP — here's why you should care

Microsoft is also betting big time on PWA with its UWP. Electron is already supported, which is why Slack exists in the Store. Next year, proper PWA support through Edge will happen too, which means even more apps.

While Microsoft's long-term goal is for proper, native UWP apps its ability to bridge into PWA and Electron benefits everyone in the consumer space. Just remember, these are not web wrappers, but a significant evolution of app design and implementation.

As part of its Edge Web Summit 2017, Microsoft announced that Progressive Web Apps (PWA) will come to Edge next year. However, what's even more interesting is that Microsoft will start actively crawling the web for quality PWAs and add them to the Windows Store. One of the first of these PWAs to hit the Windows Store will be Microsoft Teams, which Microsoft says will arrive "in the coming months."

Progressive Web Apps are beginning to enter the spotlight as the potential future for apps, largely because of their ability to deliver a native app-like experience across multiple platforms. This cuts down the costs associated with developing multiple native apps that serve the same purpose on different platforms, and could potentially prove useful across mobile and PC. On Windows 10 in particular, PWAs can run completely offline with support for Live Tiles and the Action Center.

With its Windows Store efforts, Microsoft says it will seek out quality PWAs on the web before converting them to APPX files and making them searchable in the Windows Store. While nothing is ever a silver bullet for the dreaded "app gap," PWAs could have the potential for drawing big apps into the Windows Store without requiring companies to spend capital on maintaining a separate, native app. This also makes Windows 10 S a little more attractive, assuming PWAs grow into current expectations.

That brings us to Microsoft Teams, which currently has a desktop app that isn't present on the Windows Store. It seemed like an odd omission when Teams was launched earlier in 2017, but things are starting to come more into focus now that Microsoft has revealed plans to bring PWAs to the Windows Store.

There's no word on when exactly we can expect Teams to hit the Windows Store. However, Microsoft says PWAs will hit Edge next year and will be available by default in Insider builds starting in October.