How To Develop a PWA in React?

• By Bhagavati Prasad
• 08-12-2022
• Technology

PWA or Progressive Web Apps are web apps that make use of a number of features to provide a great user experience. These apps are able to provide offline support, push notifications and much more. They can be easily installed on devices with low storage capacity as well as those that do not have internet connection.

In this article, I will explain how you can build a PWA app using React JS framework by following these steps:

• Create a React app:
• Implement Service Workers:
• Implement a web manifest file:
• The design and layout of the PWA app

Before moving to the above step, let's discuss an essential part of this article, PWA.

What is Progressive Web App (PWA)?

PWA is a term that refers to a Progressive Web App. PWA is a website that uses modern web technologies to deliver an app-like user experience.

Progressive Web Apps are built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They are then enhanced with features such as offline support, push notifications, and device hardware access to deliver an app-like experience to users.

While Progressive Web Apps are not true native apps, they can be installed on a user's device and launched from their home screen. This provides users with a more app-like experience, while still allowing them to access the full power of the web.

Progressive Web Apps are a new and exciting way to deliver app-like experiences to users. If you're looking to create a more app-like experience for your users, then a Progressive Web App may be the right solution for you.

Some of the key features that differentiate a PWA from a traditional web app include the following:

• Offline functionality - A PWA can work offline or in low-connectivity situations. This is possible because a PWA uses a service worker, which is a script that runs in the backend and provides offline caching.
• Push notifications - A PWA can send push notifications to users, even when the app is closed. This is possible because a PWA uses a push service, which is a script that runs in the backend and can receive push messages from a server.
• Home screen icon - A PWA can be added to the home screen of a device, just like a native app. This is possible because a PWA uses a web app manifest, which is a JSON file that specifies the name, icons, and other information about the app.
• Responsive design - A PWA is designed to be responsive on any device, regardless of screen size. This is possible because a PWA uses responsive web design, which is a technique for building web pages that look good on any screen size.
• App-like experience - A PWA provides an app-like experience to users, even though it is a web app. This is possible because a PWA uses a JavaScript framework such as React or Angular to create a single-page app.

A PWA is a web app that is designed to work offline and be responsive on any device. A PWA is built using web technologies including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, a PWA is different from a traditional web app because it uses modern web capabilities to deliver a native app-like experience to users.

Step-1. Create a React app

The first step to developing a PWA is creating a React app. You can use create-react-app to create your own PWA, or you can use the one that comes with Create React App by default.

Once you have created an app in your terminal (or command line), install react and react-dom:

$ npm install --save [email protected] $ npm install -g browserify@>=1.7 &&browserify@

Step-2. Implement service workers

Service workers are background web app processes that can be installed in your PWA to make it work offline. The service worker is responsible for caching the resources of your PWA and it allows you to cache its HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images and more.

You can install service workers by adding a manifest file into the HTML page at: /sw-precache-webapplications//index.html (where is where you store your files). This will add all of these files as assets, so they are preloaded by the browser when they come back up after being offline for some time period or whenever there is activity on them (i.e., clicking buttons).

Step-3. Implement a web manifest file

The manifest file is a simple JSON file that contains metadata about your web app. The manifest file contains information about the application, such as its name, version number, icon and description. This helps browsers know what they're dealing with when they load it up. The purpose of the manifest is to allow you to specify some basic information about your app and also to provide some instructions to the browser about how it should behave when it encounters your site.

The easiest way to create a manifest file would be by using JavaScript or TypeScript which we discussed in Step 2 above!

Step-4. The design and layout of the PWA app

The design and layout of the PWA app is important for the user experience. It should be responsive, minimal, and easy to navigate.

The following are some tips that you can follow while designing your PWA:

• Use a grid system (such as Bootstrap or Foundation) for each page or screen in your app so that it looks consistent across all pages on a single site. If you don't use an established grid system like Bootstrap or Foundation, consider using one such as Semantic UI which has many features like custom font weights and sizes along with icons support out-of-the box!
• Make sure all elements have a clear hierarchy visible through their positioning properties such as margins, padding etc., This way users will know where everything belongs without having any confusion about what goes where when navigating through different parts of their PWA application."

Step-5. App Shell

The app shell is a minimal HTML, CSS and JavaScript bundle that powers the first meaningful paint of your application. It's also known as an instant web app (IWA). This can be generated using some tools like create-react-app , webpack or Parcel.

Step-6. Installable web apps aka PWA in ReactJS

Installable web apps are installed in the home screen. They have a splash screen, but they can also be accessed offline and in full screen mode.

Installable web apps come with certain benefits such as:

• You don't need to download the entire app when you first open it. Instead, you only download what is needed for your device to run smoothly (e.g., if you're using an iPhone X then only enough resources will be installed so as to not impact performance).
• The user experience is better because there's less latency between clicking on things and seeing results; this means that users won't feel like they're waiting around while something loads up before being able access what they want from their app!

Bottom Line

In this article, We learn simple steps to develop a PWA app using Reactjs framework. Progressive Web Apps are Apps that run on any browser or device, online and offline and can be installed on any device except for iOS devices. If you looking for the indepth guide you can check our blog post onPWA app development for converting your existing website in PWA app.