Microsoft's PWA Builder hits version 2.0 with new design and more

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.

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Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl