How to convert your favorite web applications to desktop applications

As you might we have realized that most of our computing is done through web browsers now. Websites and web applications can take care of everything from watching movies to building spreadsheets to checking emails.

If you think about the desktop programs you use most often, for many people it’s probably limited to an image editor, a web browser, and maybe an office application. The rule is to work in the cloud now, and the trend is going in one direction only. (Microsoft allows you to play Windows via a web browser now.)

As the distinction between online applications and desktop programs becomes increasingly blurred, it is now possible to configure popular web applications on Windows, MacOS, or Chrome OS desktops. This uses progressive web applications or so-called PWAs and we’ll explain everything you need to know.

Progressive web applications have been explained

Progressive web applications are particular types of web applications. Not all applications that you can run on the web are PWA. For an online application to be appropriate, the developer must build it in a unique way and use a specific set of coding standards that allow it to be maintained on its own as a desktop program.

These are some of the most popular examples of PWAs Twitter, Spotify, Google Chat, and Uber, but they’re adding more all the time. Google (understandably) and Microsoft are pushing the idea of ​​making PWAs part of the desktop ecosystem. That’s why the easiest way to set it up is through Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers.

When you switch from using a site like Twitter to using a PWA in your browser, you won’t see much difference right away. PWAs are basically websites that run on a desktop wrapping program, so many of the features are the same. However, you can treat them like desktop applications, which brings several advantages.

You can easily manage these applications on the taskbar (Windows), dock (macOS), or shelf (Chrome OS). Installing PWAs also means that notifications from these applications can be managed at the operating system level and treated differently from notifications coming from your browser. You’ll find them in the main list of apps, and you don’t have to keep your browser open to use them.