Unlike Blogger, WordPress offers some awesome plugins to help you create a stunning progressive web app for your website without having to beat a sweat.
We shared a couple of days back a tutorial on how to create a PWA for your Blogger site. So, if you are on this page and was doubting if it's possible to make a progressive web app for your Blogger site, then refer here for the tutorial.
What is a Progressive Web App?
Before we dive into listing the best plugins to use for creating a PWA for your WordPress site, let's, first of all, throw some light on what a PWA is all about.
A progressive web application is a type of application software delivered through the web, built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It is intended to work on any platform that uses a standards-compliant browser.
Progressive WordPress makes it easy to encourage users to add your website to their home screen. But that’s not all. It also allows you to control the display behaviour of your website so it will be shown without any browser elements. Just like a native app.
Progressive WordPress makes it easy to encourage users to add your website to their home screen. But that’s not all. It also allows you to control the display behaviour of your website so it will be shown without any browser elements. Just like a native app.
You have probably seen a message asking you to install the app of a website you visited. And you get to see a plus icon at the right end of the address bar.
A progressive web app for your website will help your audience easily access your website via it on both smartphone and PC. And unlike a traditional native app, it is light-weight and will save space on their device.
Top 5 WordPress plugins to help convert your site into a PWA
1. Progressive Web Apps
This is one of the plugins you can use to easily convert your WordPress site into a PWA. The Progressive Web Apps plugin helps bloggers, publishers and other content creators to go beyond responsive web design and ‘appify’ their existing mobile presence. Progressive Web Apps is supported on iOS & Android. Compatible browsers: Safari, Google Chrome, Android – Native Browser.
This plugin includes one FREE mobile PWA (MOSAIC) which is customizable (colours, fonts, appearance) via the WordPress admin area. The tech stacks used in building this Progressive Web App includes:
- React JS
- Semantic UI for UI components
- Redux for app state management
- SASS
- Webpack (Create React App boilerplate)
- Babel
- Jest & Sinon for unit tests
And as for the core features, we have;
- Web Push Notifications
- Premium Support
- Rich UI/UX
- Automatically translate your mobile web app
- Offline Mode
- Add to Homescreen
- Maintenance and hands-on support
2. PWA for WP & AMP
We are using this PWA plugin on one of our WP sites and it is pretty cool and useful. PWA for WP & AMP plugin converts your WP site into a PWA for both PC and mobile. And the PWA generated with this plugin can be found among your native Android apps installed as a standalone app.
You can give the APP-like experience to your audience which will get your website to their home screen and works instantly like an APP with offline support.
Some of the features it offers include;
- Easily change start URL
- Offline mode
- Caching Strategy for PWA enabled assets
- APP Banners in Home-screen
- UTM Tracking
- Continuous Development
- Push notification support
- Cache Expire option
- And more
The PWA Plugin by PWA plugin contributors helps you to implement support for Web App Manifest, HTTPs as well as Service Workers in WordPress. Moreover, this plugin is very reliable that can load instantly without displaying the down sour even in the uncertain network condition.
Some of the features it offers includes;
- Respond quickly to user interactions
- Support for push notifications
- Load instantly and never show the down sour
- Feel like a natural app on the device
- Provide the PWA building blocks
4. Progressive WordPress (PWA)
This plugin adds progressive web app features (PWA) to your WordPress website. It also has support for Accelerate Mobile Pages (AMP) and is compatible with OneSignal!. Coupled with the features above, we also have offline mode support.
5. Super Progressive Web Apps
Super Progressive Web Apps makes it easy for you to convert your WordPress website into a Progressive Web App instantly!
Once SuperPWA is installed, users browsing your website from a supported mobile device will see a “Add To Home Screen” notice (from the bottom of the screen) and will be able to ‘install your website’ on the home screen of their device. Every page visited is stored locally on their device and will be available to read even when they are offline!
Key features of this plugin include;
- Aggressive caching of pages
- Edit the Application Name and Application Short name
- Set the start page of your PWA
- Set custom offline page
- Change the colour of the browser address bar of Chrome
- Set Accelerated Mobile Page version of the start page and more