Websites · Glossary
What is a PWA?
A PWA, or progressive web app, is a website that browsers can install to a phone or computer like an app. It has a web app manifest describing its name, icon and colours, and a service worker that caches files so it opens quickly and shows something useful offline. It is opened from a home screen icon, without an app store.
A PWA is not a separate product from your website; it is your website with a few extra files that tell browsers it can be installed and how to behave once it is.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
3 min read · Published
What makes a website a PWA
Three things: the site is served over HTTPS, it links a manifest file with its name, short name, start address, colours and icons, and it registers a service worker, a script the browser runs in the background that decides what to cache and what to show when the network is gone.
What visitors get
An icon on the home screen with your name under it, a full screen window without the browser address bar, faster repeat opens because files are cached, and an offline page instead of an error when the connection drops. On Android and desktop Chrome the browser offers an install button; on iPhone, visitors use Share, then Add to Home Screen.
What a PWA is good for
Businesses whose customers return often: cafes with pickup ordering, gyms with timetables, clubs, shops with regulars. It gives them an app like shortcut without an app store listing, review process or developer accounts, and every update to the website reaches installed visitors automatically.
Limits worth knowing
A PWA does not appear in app stores, has more limited access to device features than a native app, and on iPhone some features depend on the visitor adding it to the home screen first. It should never cache prices, carts or checkout pages, which must always come fresh from the network.
Where it shows up in OneCraft
The App card in site settings switches installing on; it is on by default for stores and menus. Each publish then adds a manifest, three icons from your favicon or a lettermark, a service worker and an offline page. The worker never caches the cart, checkout, thank you page or catalogue file, and an install prompt section can invite phone visitors.
Questions people ask
Is a PWA the same as a native app?
No. A PWA is a website installed from the browser, built with web technologies and updated whenever the site is published. A native app is installed from an app store, built for each platform and updated through store releases. Both can live on the home screen with an icon.
Do PWAs work on iPhone?
Yes, with differences. Safari does not show an install prompt, so visitors tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Once added, the site opens full screen with its icon. Some capabilities, such as web push for a site, require the site to be added to the home screen first.
Can a PWA work offline?
Partly. The service worker can cache the site styles, scripts, images and an offline page, so the site opens and shows something useful without a connection. Anything live, such as ordering, prices and stock, needs the network and should never be served from an old cache.
Do I need to submit a PWA to an app store?
No. Visitors install it directly from your website. That avoids store fees and review, but it also means no store listing for people browsing an app store. Some businesses wrap their website in a native shell for the stores, which is a separate and much larger job.
How do I know if my site is installable?
Open it in Chrome on Android or desktop and look for an install icon in the address bar or an Install app option in the menu. Chrome DevTools also has an Application panel that lists the manifest and service worker and reports problems.
Make one with websites
The button opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own.
Create a website with OneCraftRelated questions
- PWA vs native appPWA vs native app for a small business: cost, app store presence, device features, updates and review compared in a table, and how to choose between them.
- What are web push notifications?What are web push notifications? Alerts a website can send to a browser or installed web app after permission, even when the site is closed. How they work.
- App Store guideline 4.2: minimum functionalityApp Store guideline 4.2 explained: why Apple rejects apps that only repackage a website, what 4.2.6 says about builder made apps, and how to give an app a job.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .