I recently noticed that the iode community site is now supporting PWA which has to be good news for FOSS fans, so thanks to whoever was behind the initiative. Excellent! The use of PWA’s to provide support where a dedicated FOSS app is not available is a must for exclusively FOSS users. Any chance of iode providing an integrated PWA management app to encourage more FOSS only user’s?
It would certainly be of interest to those new user’s that are considering iode as a medium with which to degoogle their lifestyle.
I had to look up “PWA” which seems to be a progressive web application.
As far as I understood Wikipedia, this can be used just like an app, but is reached through a browser/URL. So there is no need for a Google Play Store or Apple store.
That sounds great. Where are the advantages to an app that is provided for download by the app developer and updates itself? (Example Threema)
Are there repositories/places where I can search for those PWA?
PWA’s have been around for a few years now but only the bigger players seem to take them seriously as a universal medium that instantly connect with their customers/clients without relying on them to go to an appstore to download. The fact that they are browser based rather than stored on your phone makes them easier to contain especially if your browser offers containerised tabs. Only real down side is that push notifications are not possible unless you leave your browser running. So from a privacy aspect PWA’s are the obvious choice as you have the control without having to reach into your settings every time you want to use them you just close the tab and the app is completely shut down.
I’m not aware that there is a definitive list. I use utilities on all my devices in order to create webapps if I’m a regular visitor, but they don’t necessarily give you all the features of a PWA. The thing that I don’t understand is as to why the FOSS community as a whole aren’t banging the PWA drum as together we are a marketing source that any retailer or service provider would love to have on their side.
I accept for some applications dedicated apps are always going to be the go to solution, but if the FOSS community want to make a dent in Google dependencies then PWA’s have to be the lowest hanging fruit.