Guides for buildinginstallable web apps
Practical writing on Progressive Web Apps, install prompts, iOS Safari, web push and everything in between.
The beforeinstallprompt event: a 2026 field guide
How Chrome fires beforeinstallprompt, when it is suppressed, and the exact pattern to defer, trigger and measure the install choice.
Readmanifest.webmanifest: every field, ranked by impact
A 2026 field-by-field breakdown of the Web App Manifest — what browsers actually read, what they quietly ignore, and the defaults that unblock installability.
ReadHow to turn a website into a PWA in 2026
A step-by-step, 2026-accurate guide to making any website installable — manifest, service worker, iOS Safari, install prompt, and analytics.
ReadGetting your PWA into the app stores in 2026
How to publish a PWA to the Google Play Store (TWA), Microsoft Store, Meta Quest Store and Samsung Galaxy Store — with the gotchas nobody warns you about.
ReadWorkbox vs a custom service worker: honest trade-offs
When Workbox is the right call, when a 40-line hand-rolled service worker beats it, and the maintenance burden nobody talks about.
ReadPWA vs native app in 2026: cost, reach and conversion
A no-hype comparison of PWAs and native apps in 2026 — build cost, distribution reach, install friction, conversion rates and when to pick each.
ReadOffline-first PWA architecture that survives real networks
Patterns for building PWAs that work on planes, subways and rural 3G — cache layering, sync queues, conflict resolution and the UI cues users expect.
ReadPWA analytics: the events that actually matter
A minimal analytics blueprint for Progressive Web Apps — install funnel, standalone sessions, push CTR, offline usage and the vanity metrics to skip.
ReadWeb push notifications in 2026: the complete guide
How web push actually works in 2026 — VAPID, service workers, iOS 16.4+ support, permission prompts that convert, and delivery pipelines that scale.
ReadWhy install prompts belong in a Shadow DOM
Style isolation, event containment and CSP survival — the technical case for rendering PWA install popups inside a Shadow DOM, with code.
ReadiOS Add to Home Screen: the complete 2026 guide
Everything you need to make your website installable on iPhone and iPad in 2026 — Safari share sheet flow, icon requirements, splash screens, and web push.
ReadGetting a PWA to Lighthouse 100 without gaming the audit
The real work behind a 100 Performance + 100 PWA Lighthouse score — concrete optimisations that also make production users faster.
ReadHow to increase your PWA install rate (14 tactics that actually work)
Concrete, tested tactics to push PWA install rate from under 1% to 5–15% — timing, copy, targeting, iOS handling and the metrics that matter.
ReadPWA storage limits: what you actually get in 2026
IndexedDB, Cache API and OPFS quotas across Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge — with the eviction rules that decide what survives.
ReadService worker caching strategies, ranked by real-world use
A pragmatic ranking of service worker caching patterns — cache-first, network-first, stale-while-revalidate — with the exact scenarios each one wins.
ReadWeb push vs native push: what actually differs in 2026
Feature-by-feature comparison of Web Push (Push API) and native APNs/FCM — latency, payload size, rich media, background updates and opt-in ceilings.
ReadThe Background Sync API in production
How to use Background Sync and Periodic Background Sync to make offline writes reliable — with browser support caveats and the fallback for Safari.
ReadPWA SEO: what changes, what doesn’t, and what breaks
A grounded guide to SEO for Progressive Web Apps — what Google actually indexes in 2026, the SSR/CSR trade-off, and the four mistakes that tank rankings.
ReadWeb Share Target: register your PWA as a share destination
Turn your PWA into a first-class share target on Android and ChromeOS — accept text, URLs, images and files from the system share sheet.
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