Chrome And The Web App Revolution

Quick update from the world of Chrome. The new version in stable (chrome://version = 42 just like the answer to the universe) brings some interesting and powerful features that give web developers more options to create amazing experiences.

Chrome 42 (stable)

We are getting to a world where web developer could create web apps that act just like ‘native apps’ without any bridges (e.g. Cordova). The main enablers APIs are already in this version. Check out what you can do today with Service Worker and the options it’s giving you to cache, work offline and push notifications in the background. Here is an example I wrote that uses service worker to cache & offline. I think we are going to see some very interesting implications. There are many options for the “physical mobile web” and these powerful APIs.

• Push notifications – This was one of the most popular requests from web developers. Push notifications allow your users to opt-in to timely updates from sites they love and allow you to effectively re-engage them with customized, engaging content.
  • You will need to leverage this new power from the Service Worker API.
  • There is also a good post on this topic on theverge.com
    
• Add to home screen – These home screen icons allow developers to build deep, engaged relationships with their users.
  The best part is that users will keep using the experiences they love in order to come back into these new web apps. Check out this demo.
• Want to see a great example in action?
  Check the new Google I/O 2015 web application.

Chrome 43 (Beta)

• Web MIDI support, new features to improve security and compatibility and a number of small changes to enable developers to build more powerful web applications. Users are able to use MIDI hardware to create music without installing any specialized software, as the Web MIDI API allows websites to communicate with connected MIDI devices.

• Permissions API – For example, you can now, ask for Geolocation without interrupting your users. There are many more APIs that are going to enjoy this permissions model.

• Copy/Cut commands – IE10 and above added support for the ‘cut’ and ‘copy’ commands through the Document.execCommand() method. As of Chrome version 43, these commands are also supported in Chrome.

 Performance #perfmatters

• The DevTools Timeline panel has always been the best first stop on the path to performance optimization. This centralized overview of your app’s activity helps you analyze where time is spent on loading, scripting, rendering, and painting. Check out the new upgraded the Timeline with more instrumentation so that you can see a more in-depth view of your app’s performance.
• New JavaScript techniques that follow the rule: “faster is better”.

Btw, there is a new “web news” show that Rob Donson is leading: #LAZYWEB
It’s a great way to stay updated. Here is the latest episode:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voo5mxStFKg]

Happy (web) coding.