Desktop PWAs are just like regular desktop applications, except that they work in a web browser as well. This is good because you don’t have to blindly install an app hoping that it will work well and solve your problem, but instead you can just use the app in your browser, and if you like it, you can install it.
Cross platform support is nice for users as well. I have a number of apps that I can't use on my desktop which is quite annoying. When I use a PWA I know that I can access it from whatever device I am on.
I read the first couple of sentences, opened the link on my phone and found the experience a bit disappointing. Then I realised they're talking about a _desktop_ PWA, complete with a mimetype file_handler.
I know it's not that big a deal and the performance improvements in that PR are the real headline, but I personally really appreciate a well-executed PWA & seeing it headlined as such. Those features have been there for donkeys years, and it blows my mind how rarely they're taken advantage of properly - especially on the desktop.
I noticed that too. I'm not sure of the benefit of PWA on desktop, but I built a progressive web app, mainly because I need very few native features (currently only using push notifications) and I'm only one person so I don't have time/interest in writing native code when I can write for the web and be done.
I use it daily on my Android and it works well for my needs. I get caching and push notifications, my app is right on my home screen so just one click away. All this is very cheap (writing a service worker) compared to trying to figure out Cordova or Electron.
It's actually a pretty good example of a PWA which can be installed (depending on whether your platform supports it, works well with chrome and windows, sorta works on iOS but more fiddly. Havent tried firefox).
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