Google made a decision that should help developers in the future. If we take a trip back to the 2017, we remember that at the Chrome Dev Summit, Google introduced the Trusted Web Activities concept. To put it into simple terms, it allows launching web content from a native app, and it uses the preferred browser of the user.
The way Trusted Web Activities were presented on the Chromium blog of Google, a ““Trusted Web Activity (TWA) displays a full-screen Chrome browser inside of an Android app with no browser UI.”
The latest Chrome 72 version, finally makes the API available for everyone. This should be of great help for users, as it allows them to distribute progressive web apps on the Google Play Store. If you are a developer, you can too give it a try.
What does this change bring?
The new addition was observed by Maximilian Firtman first. He is a web and app developers and he analyzed just how important Progressive Web Apps are.
In the past we also heard about Chrome Custom Tabs. CCTs do offer certain advanced features, including customisation options for the appearance and elements such as menus or toolbars. However, there was one disadvantage there. The URL bar was presented at the top of the page, which made them look as if they weren’t part a part of the app.
Trusted Web Activities aren’t that different from Chrome Custom Tabs. However, there are some differences. For example, they do not show the URL and they also open in full screen, which is advantageous for developers.
Daniel Kiss is the senior editor for News Lair. Daniel was working as a writer since he finished high-school, first for local papers then he started online, nowadays he likes to write about the latest games and tech innovations.