6 Most Interesting Progressive Web Apps.
Progressive web apps or PWA are the fastest growing category of smartphone apps in today’s time. You must have used one, like a website, but noticed that this website is amazing on your smartphone. It just might be one of the PWAs. These are just like apps but rendered through a browser. You don’t have to install these through an app store. Just access them from their URL for the first time and then just “save” them to your phone. These can send push notifications, access the hardware of the device, and work offline. Yes, you read it right. Progressive Web App works just as smoothly in an unstable connection or in the absence of a network, as it would be with full Internet access.
So what are some of the most interesting progressive web apps right now in the market to explore and derive inspiration from? Given below are some of the most interesting ones I’ve come across and had a permanent place on my smartphone. Please note that these are best viewed from a smartphone, so open this blog in your phone and flow with the experience they provide.
Our THE website for the source of all information, Wikipedia has an offline version too. Yes! Although I’d have loved it to be a project directed by Wikimedia, this is an interesting progressive web app, nonetheless. This offline Wikipedia caches articles when you browse Wikipedia through it. When you like an article or want to save it later for offline viewing, just flip the switch on the app and your article is instantly saved on your device in a cache. It goes without saying that if you clear your cache, you will also be deleting your saved article. We all visit Wikipedia multiple times a day for our research on various topics, wouldn’t it be great to access all of that material offline? This is why this app features in our most interesting progressive web apps list.
This is a one of a kind PWA. In Paper Planes, you stamp your date and place on a piece of paper, fold it in the form of a plane and literally “throw your plane” which now roams around the world. Once you throw your plane, anybody else in the world can “catch” it using a net and put a stamp of their location and time. He/she can also view where all that plane has been. You can also track your own plane which you flew and which country it has visited. Currently, there are close to 50,000 paper planes which are flying through this app. What a beautiful way to demonstrate the power of progressive web apps. Fly your virtual plane right now and tell us if it isn’t one of the most interesting progressive web apps you’ve ever seen!
Now, anything related to Donald J. Trump has to be interesting. Especially when a PWA allows you to “topple” him through your knowledge of, erm weird statements by Mr. President himself. This completely offline app — Topple Trump is a Q&A type of an app. You have to select a correct answer from the options which will fill the blanks in the question. The questions are based on statements by Trump and you get 30 seconds for each question. Get them all right and you help the Democrats win the election (if, only!). But if you get them wrong, you’re just helping the Republicans win, yet again. A hilarious set of questions which will reignite your old feelings regarding Mr. President and a fun way to learn the possibilities of an interesting progressive web app.
One of the most addictive games ever created — the 2048 — now comes in a PWA avatar too! I don’t need to explain how this game works because I bet each and every one of you must have played this game at some point. This game is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of human time since it’s inception. This 2048 game has been beautifully carved into a progressive web app by Opera. Of course, you don’t need to install it, it’s readily available on your fingertips, whenever you have some spare time to kill. It’s a perfect example of how technology meets the growing demand for engaging content. This is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting progressive web apps.
If I’d have to choose on PWA from this list as my favorite, then I’d choose Bubble. It combines VR along with progressive web app technology and rest is limited by your imagination. Select your 360-degree photos and put on your VR headset and get instantly transported to that place in VR. Again, combining the power of PWA with VR is an experience which cannot be explained in words, you’ve got to see it for yourself. What’s more, you can instantly share your VR photos with your friends in a single click. If you don’t have any 360-degree photos, you can click some using the Cardboard Camera by Google. This is truly one of the most interesting progressive web apps you’ll ever come across.
Notes and Voice Memos
These are productivity based PWAs and allow you to make notes or record a message for your future self as a memo. Notes help you quickly type and store important messages or addresses or anything of importance. This is as simple as it gets, but its simplicity is its beauty! Only what you need and no distractions, whatsoever.
Typing not your thing? No problem. Record voice memos in your own voice (or let your wife record it, if it’s more effective) using the Voice Memos PWA. With a Google-like minimalist UI, this app allows you to quickly record something using your phone’s microphone and store it for offline use. Simple, yet powerful. These help you stay productive in your day and remember and organize your tasks. Hence, for me, these are in the list of the most interesting progressive web apps.
Progressive Web Apps are here to stay and we’re just getting started. 2018 will be a year of many milestones. Mass adoption of PWAs is definitely going to be one of them. Many big businesses are using them for a ton of benefits they offer to their smartphone audience. These awesome PWAs must have surely inspired to check out more and probably make one yourself.
