Taking Chrome Full Screen with Trusted Web Activities (Google I/O ’19)

Summary

This presentation introduces Trusted Web Activities (TWAs), a powerful tool for integrating web content into Android apps. TWAs provide a fast, reliable, and up-to-date experience, offering a solution for developers to deliver high-quality PWAs in the Play Store. The speaker highlights the growing adoption of TWAs by major brands, including Bucher, Myntra, and Tencent News, showcasing their success in improving user engagement and conversion rates. The session also outlines upcoming features in Chrome 75 and emphasizes the benefits of using TWAs over traditional WebView for delivering web content in Android apps.

Takeaways

• 😀 Lighthouse helps developers optimize app performance by identifying common pitfalls and improving quality.
• 😀 Trusted Web Activities (TWAs) offer an efficient way to integrate web content seamlessly into Android apps.
• 😀 All web content in the Play Store must adhere to the same quality standards as native apps, regardless of the method used for integration.
• 😀 The Play Store's quality bar for web apps is continuously rising, so developers must regularly update their content to stay compliant.
• 😀 Bucher, Myntra, Navbharat Times, Tencent News, and OYO Rooms are some early adopters of TWAs, seeing improvements in user engagement and conversions.
• 😀 TWAs help e-commerce apps like Myntra target users with storage concerns, offering 'lite' versions to ensure better retention.
• 😀 Tencent News and OYO Rooms have observed a significant increase in user time spent on their apps and better conversion rates through TWAs.
• 😀 Trusted Web Activities are built on the Android Intent system, meaning they can be adopted by other browsers like Firefox and Samsung Internet.
• 😀 Chrome 75 will introduce new features like automatic splash screen management and improved push notifications for web content within TWAs.
• 😀 Developers should explore web.dev and Stack Overflow for resources and feedback on implementing PWAs and TWAs in their projects.

Q & A

What is the purpose of Trusted Web Activities (TWAs)?

Trusted Web Activities (TWAs) allow web content to be displayed within an Android app while maintaining a native app-like experience. They are designed to improve the integration of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) into Android apps, ensuring performance and quality while leveraging the capabilities of Chrome.

How do TWAs differ from WebView in Android apps?

TWAs replace WebView by offering a faster, more feature-rich experience. While WebView often relies on older, less performant patterns, TWAs are built on the latest web standards, ensuring that the content is always up to date and runs optimally on Android devices.

What are some of the advantages of using a PWA with TWAs in the Play Store?

PWAs with TWAs offer the advantage of being reliable, performant, and easily integrated into the Play Store. They comply with the Play Store's quality requirements, ensuring that users get a seamless and consistent experience that meets their expectations, such as fast load times and offline capabilities.

What role does Lighthouse play in the context of PWAs and TWAs?

Lighthouse is a tool that helps developers measure and optimize the performance, accessibility, and quality of their PWAs and TWAs. It identifies potential issues and provides actionable insights to improve the app, ultimately helping developers create high-quality web apps that perform well on all devices.

How does the Play Store quality bar affect TWAs over time?

The quality bar for apps in the Play Store is continually raised to ensure users get the best possible experience. As this bar increases, developers using TWAs must update their apps to comply with new standards, keeping both their native code and web content up to date.

Can you give an example of a company successfully using TWAs?

Bucher, a leading German book retailer, uses TWAs for their PWA, leading to higher conversion rates among users. Their app users convert at a rate more than three times higher than median web visitors, showcasing the effectiveness of TWAs in engaging customers.

What are some of the upcoming features for TWAs in Chrome 75?

Chrome 75 introduces several new features for TWAs, including automatic splash screen hiding when the web content has painted, improved support for web push notifications, and the ability to auto-enroll users in push notifications, making TWAs even more user-friendly and feature-rich.

What are the potential benefits of TWAs for e-commerce websites?

For e-commerce websites, TWAs provide a way to deliver a high-performance, app-like experience on Android devices without requiring users to download a full native app. This results in higher engagement, retention, and conversion rates, as seen with companies like Myntra and OYO Rooms.

What is the expected impact of Trusted Web Activities on the future of app development?

TWAs are expected to play a significant role in simplifying app development by allowing developers to use web technologies to create fast, reliable, and engaging Android experiences. They will likely encourage more developers to create hybrid apps that combine the best of the web and native code.

How can developers get started with Trusted Web Activities?

Developers can start using TWAs by following the guidelines and resources available on web.dev, which provides comprehensive instructions on building and optimizing PWAs. Additionally, developers can test their PWAs with Lighthouse to ensure optimal performance and quality before launching their apps in the Play Store.