Google announced that it will push towards deeper integration for it’s Progressive Web Apps. In 2015, Google added a feature to Chrome allowing developers to prompt users to add their site to the user’s home screen. Google is expanding this feature in Chrome Beta. When users use the option “add to home screen”, progressive web apps will appear like any other app on your home screen.
According to Google, Progressive Web Apps are user experiences designed to be reliable, fast, and engaging. These are apps that are worthy of being on the home screen and work reliably, regardless of the network connection. They’re also proven to lead to increased engagement as well as improved conversions for users.
Progressive Web Apps will act more than apps, rather than a traditional browser tab. This is ideal of users who want to link to sites without having to download the app. Progressive Web Apps in Chrome Beta will allow users will be able to control notifications, appear in their app drawer, and will be able to receive incoming intents from other apps.
Yaron Friedman notes that “This new Add to Home screen feature is one more step in our journey to empower developers to build the best possible experience for their users, and we are committed to ensuring the same mechanisms for installing Progressive Web Apps are available to all browsers on Android.”
