Support for PWA

[2mustange]

I apologize if this has been discussed. My account has not been very active but I want to change that. 

 

The mobile site is very smooth and I think the ability to set the forum up as a Progressive Web App would do amazingly well. 

 

As the declined suggestions thread mentioned a dedicated mobile app would be practically unnecessary as the mobile site works so well and a mobile app requires a lot to maintain between different OSes 

 

PWAs on the other hand are based on how well the website functions and support is based on the browser end from what I understand. 

 

Would love to see PWA support. 

[kirashi]

9 minutes ago, 2mustange said:

I apologize if this has been discussed. My account has not been very active but I want to change that. 

 

The mobile site is very smooth and I think the ability to set the forum up as a Progressive Web App would do amazingly well. 

 

As the declined suggestions thread mentioned a dedicated mobile app would be practically unnecessary as the mobile site works so well and a mobile app requires a lot to maintain between different OSes 

 

PWAs on the other hand are based on how well the website functions and support is based on the browser end from what I understand. 

 

Would love to see PWA support. 

Unless I'm confusing your post, most Invision Community forums already support being "installed" as a PWA on mobile devices.

https://invisioncommunity.com/news/invision-community/improving-the-mobile-app-experience-r1311/

 

I just tested this on my Motorola Razr 50 Ultra using Google Chrome. The Linustechtips.com site installed as a PWA no problem.

[2mustange]

3 minutes ago, kirashi said:

Unless I'm confusing your post, most Invision Community forums already support being "installed" as a PWA on mobile devices.

https://invisioncommunity.com/news/invision-community/improving-the-mobile-app-experience-r1311/

 

I just tested this on my Motorola Razr Plus (2024) using Google Chrome. The Linustechtips.com site installed as a PWA no problem.

I tried it on Firefox Mobile and it just acts like the mobile webpage. 

 

 

I went over to the Invision Community and it seems to act fine as a PWA. 

 

 

I did went into Chrome and LTT forum does act as a PWA for me. 

 

So LTT forum on Firefox mobile not working?  I can try the desktop version in a bit

[spacepickle]

24 minutes ago, 2mustange said:

I tried it on Firefox Mobile and it just acts like the mobile webpage. 

 

 

I went over to the Invision Community and it seems to act fine as a PWA. 

 

 

I did went into Chrome and LTT forum does act as a PWA for me. 

 

So LTT forum on Firefox mobile not working?  I can try the desktop version in a bit

From what I've heard, it seems like iOS is extremely flaky with PWAs like this. I don't think this is a feature that the admins are super concerned about either.

I tried using it as a PWA but it was annoying not being able to switch tabs lol

[2mustange]

57 minutes ago, spacepickle said:

From what I've heard, it seems like iOS is extremely flaky with PWAs like this. I don't think this is a feature that the admins are super concerned about either.

I tried using it as a PWA but it was annoying not being able to switch tabs lol

I'm on a Google Pixel 7. 

 

IMO it's a feature that should be more widely adopted. Mostly due to not everything needs it's own store app. I do like the dedicated session to just the forum but I can understand not having tabs could be a flow breaker

[spacepickle]

28 minutes ago, 2mustange said:

I'm on a Google Pixel 7.

lol, I only saw the bar at the bottom and assumed it was the Apple one. 
 

 

[kirashi]

4 hours ago, 2mustange said:

I tried it on Firefox Mobile and it just acts like the mobile webpage. 

 

 

I went over to the Invision Community and it seems to act fine as a PWA. 

 

 

I did went into Chrome and LTT forum does act as a PWA for me. 

 

So LTT forum on Firefox mobile not working?  I can try the desktop version in a bit

To my knowledge, this is working as designed. Chrome has a deeper integration with the Android OS that other browsers may not have.

https://www.reddit.com/r/browsers/comments/1nr868r/why_only_chrome_can_install_real_pwa_apps_on/

 

[Levent]

Funny enough there was already complaints about having it

 

[colonel_mortis]

What does being a PWA actually mean to you? Its not obvious to me from your screenshots what the difference is. A PWA is just the web page that you can add to your home screen, and we have that. We intentionally opt into showing a minimal browser navigation bar because the forum doesn't have great back/forwards/sharing functionality built in, while other sites might opt to hide it entirely, if that's what looks off to you. 

[2mustange]

5 hours ago, kirashi said:

To my knowledge, this is working as designed. Chrome has a deeper integration with the Android OS that other browsers may not have.

https://www.reddit.com/r/browsers/comments/1nr868r/why_only_chrome_can_install_real_pwa_apps_on/

 

Yeah I know the FF initial implementation is not as integrated as Chrome. It is at least close to an app like experience though. 

 

4 hours ago, colonel_mortis said:

What does being a PWA actually mean to you? Its not obvious to me from your screenshots what the difference is. A PWA is just the web page that you can add to your home screen, and we have that. We intentionally opt into showing a minimal browser navigation bar because the forum doesn't have great back/forwards/sharing functionality built in, while other sites might opt to hide it entirely, if that's what looks off to you. 

PWA just means an app like experience. So the biggest takeaway is the bottom browser bar which to me means the site is being handled as a website shortcut versus a PWA. The Invision Community seems to be acting like a PWA just fine with FF. And when I create a PWA with chrome the experience is pretty similar between the two browsers; minus the WebAPK differences. 

 

I could have done more testing before submitting as i do see LTT forum supports PWA (my thread is likely answered based on that fact) but just so happens my FF mobile app isn't handling the site like a PWA. 

 

For the record, the website runs great as is, in a shortcut or through a PWA with chrome. The site being a shortcut still gives me a similar experience of being able to access the forum through my phones home screen.

[PacketAuditor]

This is the goat if you are on a penguin OS. 

https://github.com/linuxmint/webapp-manager

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/webapp-manager

Edit: NVM, didn't see mobile.