Web applications are essentially websites that are designed to look and function like traditional apps. They can be accessed through a web browser on your phone, such as Safari on your iPhone or iPad, and do not require downloading or installation through the app store. Apple has been supporting this type of application for years, but what is a web app? And how does it differ from typical apps used on iPhones and iPads?
What are web apps?
Web apps, as Apple calls them, or Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), as Google promotes them, are multi-purpose apps developed using only web technologies. The term PWAs is commonly used to describe these types of applications. From a user's perspective, a PWA can be compared to a web page that can be added to your device's home screen without the need to download it from the app store. Some well-known web apps that many people use include Google Maps, Starbucks, Tinder, Uber, and Instagram.
It is interesting to note that the iOS system was the first platform to support the idea of PWAs. When the iPhone was first introduced, the initial apps were created using HTML5, which allowed users to manually add them to their home screens for a fullscreen app-like experience. At that time, the app store did not yet exist.
After the introduction of the App Store, Apple's support for web applications began to fade, while Google Chrome continued to improve its relevant web technologies. By 2018, all major web browsers, including Safari, committed to supporting web applications. Since then, Apple has also continued to improve the web application experience, although it has not announced it much. Therefore, many people were surprised when Apple announced its plan to support web application notifications during the WWDC 2022 developer conference.
Web Applications Pros
Unlike "web applications" that function as basic shortcuts or simple bookmarks for the home screen, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) can be pre-downloaded and work in offline mode, providing an application-like experience on the Apple store and access to features such as geolocation, camera, and more.
The size of Starbucks' web application is 233 kilobytes, which is 99.84% smaller than the size of the application on the App Store, which is 148 megabytes.
From a developer's perspective, choosing Progressive Web Applications (PWA) can lead to avoiding the potential difficulties that a developer may face in accepting their application during Apple's review process.
Here's an example:
Apple doesn't accept apps that showcase other apps in the App Store. This is why developer Othman created a solution for a problem some people face, which is receiving many questions and inquiries about app requests from friends or family members because they want an app to do a certain thing, but they don't know the name of the app that does it, and searching the app store rarely gives useful results, especially in Arabic.
So Othman developed Appollow, a platform for apps that allows users to easily search for apps in Arabic, as well as share their favorite apps and discover free apps for a limited time. Othman says, "I was inspired by our app, Ab-Aad."
But if Othman had developed the app and placed it in the app store, Apple would definitely reject it, just like they reject updating our app, Ab-Aad. Therefore, the Appollow project is a website built with PWA technology, which adds the ability to install it as an app on the home screen, like Twitter and Starbucks.
Othman is a genius developer, Mashallah, and this is the website for his app that works with the technology we are talking about today...
https://www.appollow.net
Web App Cons
Native apps (developed using Apple's development package) have better integration with iOS and provide a smoother user experience. For example, web apps can only store data and files without an internet connection that totals a maximum of 50 megabytes. They cannot access some device features, such as Bluetooth, Face ID or Touch ID, and they cannot execute background instructions. Currently, web apps do not have access to in-app payments and other Apple services, which are only available to native apps.
How to add a web app to your home screen
◉ Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
◉ Go to a website that offers web apps. You can visit the appsco website, where you'll find many of them.
◉ Tap the Share button.
◉ Scroll down in the Share window and select Add to Home Screen.
◉ Name the web app, then tap Add.
The new web app will appear on the space on your device's home screen. If you tap on it and it takes you back to the standard website, exit Safari through the app switcher and then start the web app again.
How to set up web app notifications on iPhone
In the beta update of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4, Apple added a new feature that allows web apps added to the home screen to support notifications. These apps can request permission to receive notifications through a pop-up window, just like other apps, and you can then approve receiving notifications from this app. With permission to receive notifications from this app, they will appear on the lock screen, in the notification center, and on a paired Apple Watch.
Here's how to set up notifications for a web app:
◉ Open the web app you added to your home screen.
◉ Look for the notification settings and enable them.
◉ When the permission prompt appears, click Allow to allow the web app to send notifications to you, just like a regular app.
◉ Once you do this, you can control the notifications and badges for the web app from within the notifications section in the Settings app.
