Anyone who follows Ionic closely knows we’re all-in on Progressive Web Apps. And while many of our readers have a double Master’s degree in PWAs by now, we know that lots of you are just climbing onboard the PWA hype train.

To help anyone curious about PWAs, and to round out the story for people who are already familiar with the topic, we decided to package up all the need-to-know info in a handy white paper: The Architect’s Guide to Progressive Web Apps.

Why all the hype around PWAs?

For those of you who are new to PWAs, here are the basics you need to know:

The term Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) was only introduced in 2015, so the concept is still relatively new. But, thanks to broad adoption of the underlying web standards and APIs that make PWAs possible — think Service Workers, Web App Manifests, and more — PWAs are about to take off in a big way. They offer significant advantages over the status quo, and the tools are out there to help developers use them.

Obviously, we think PWAs are extremely exciting, we’ve built a whole platform around them. But, we’re not alone. In fact, conservative research firms like Gartner are projecting that by 2020 fully 50 percent of all mobile apps will be PWAs. Big brands like Twitter and Pinterest are also doubling-down on the PWA trend.

Practical guidance to get started with PWAs

Of course, any new technology brings up a ton of questions for the people who actually have to implement them, and PWAs are no exception.

To help answer some of these questions, and give digital architects and developers a resource to consult, the new Architect’s Guide to PWAs provides very practical guidance on when and how to deploy PWAs as part of a broader app strategy, and lists out the key resources you’ll need to learn and get started developing your own.

We kept it short and to the point, with clearly marked sections, so you can skip to the things you’re wondering about — although we think the whole thing is worth reading.

Give us your feedback

We hope it provides a solid foundation for those of you considering or getting started with PWAs. Think it’s missing something? Please let us know. With technology that’s advancing as quickly as PWAs are, we’ll plan on updating it as techniques and technologies change.

Download the Architect’s Guide to PWAs, and let us know what you think!