PWAs in app stores
PWAs can be accessed through a web browser, but they can also be installed on a user's home screen as outlined in the articles in the section Provide an installable experience. One of the challenges with PWAs, however, is distributing them to app stores. This is where PWABuilder comes in.
PWABuilder is a powerful tool that allows developers to create packages that can be submitted to various app stores:
One of the major advantages of using PWABuilder to create packages is that it simplifies the process of publishing your web application to app stores. Normally, submitting an app to app stores requires a lot of work, including writing code in languages web developers may not necessarily be familiar with, creating app icons, configuring various settings, and testing the app across different devices and operating systems. PWABuilder takes care of many of these tasks automatically, reducing the amount of time and effort required to publish apps.
Internally, PWABuilder uses a command line tool called bubblewrap, which you can learn more about in the article Trusted Web Activities Quick Start Guide. Rather than use PWABuilder, you can run bubblewrap directly if you prefer the command line over graphical user interfaces.
Prerequisites
If your web app meets a few baseline PWA requirements, you can use PWABuilder to validate, score, and package your application for stores.
- Your PWA needs to be published at a public URL.
- It must have a complete web app manifest.
- The app has to be served with HTTPS.
To publish your package, you will also need a developer account with each platform you want to publish with. For the Microsoft and Google Play stores, these cost a one time fee. For the Apple App Store, an account costs a recurring fee per year. Meta Quest accounts are free.
By submitting to stores, you need to play by their rules. These rules may require you to use their payment mechanisms and pay a commission for each purchase. They may also restrict certain types of content. Carefully assess these aspects for each store you want to publish to.
Packaging
You can have an application package for your PWA in a few steps:
- From the homepage of PWABuilder, enter a URL to start the packaging process. PWABuilder will take you to the report card page for your application, where you can view scores and action items for your progressive web app.
- To proceed to packaging your app, click the Package for Stores button on the top right of the scorecard page.
- Browse the options for packaging, and select a platform by clicking Generate Package. You will be prompted for metadata related to your application, which will vary depending on platform.
- Lastly, select Download Package to download your package.
SVGcode PWA in the PWABuilder user interface.
Submitting
For guidance on how to publish a PWA to a specific store, be sure to check out the platform-specific articles:
Example
I have generated store packages for one of my apps, SVGcode, using PWABuilder.
Apart from these stores, you can of course get the app in the browser as well.
