Progressive web apps:
a love story

@nolanlawson

@nolanlawson

2010: Android was young

Pokédroid

• 440k+ downloads
• 9,700+ reviews
• 4.8 stars
• Top 10 in category "Entertainment"

Why was Pokédroid so popular?

Many alternatives on the web

• Bulbapedia
• Marriland
• Serebii
• GameFAQs

What Pokédroid had that no others had:

OFFLINE!

It's so nice to be able to be on the road playing Pokémon and having a quick reference without all the large guidebooks.

3.5MB SQLite database

2011: Pokédroid DMCA'd

• Publishing to app store asserts IP ownership
• Nintendo wary of apps
• Web sites okay

In 2011, you could not build Pokédroid using web technology alone.

2016: progressive web apps

Coined by Alex Russell of Google

Alex Russell

Profile of a PWA

• Works offline
• Launches from home screen
• "Feels" like a native app
• Push notifications (optional)
• Background sync (optional)

What changed?

• AppCache → ServiceWorker
• LocalStorage/WebSQL → IndexedDB
• Touch icons → Web App Manifest
• Save to homescreen → installable webapp

Galaxy Nexus (2011), Android 4.3

In 2011, you couldn't build a high-performance, immersive offline app with web technologies.

In 2016, you can.

Thanks!

http://nolanlawson.github.io/offline-2016-05