Can LC be used to produce Progressive Web Apps?

[KimD]

I've been developing for mobile & desktop using LC for several years. I've experimented with LC Server. I've never got the license for HTML LC.

A few days ago a past client said to me that they are probably going to move to using Progressive Web Apps (PWA) instead of native mobile apps. I hadn't heard of PWAs so I did a few hours research on Google. My first reaction was that PWAs seemed like a good way of getting less functionality at more cost. But the customer is always right and with the passing of a few days I've thought of at least one area in which PWAs might offer a significant advantage over native mobile apps.

With my few hours expertise, I'm not particularly clear on what distinguishes a PWA from a common-or-garden website. But I got to wondering to what extent HTML standalones produced by LC could replicate some of the key benefits of PWAs. In particular, can LC HTML standalones:
1) When the user has internet connectivity - be easily downloaded onto the users mobile device, without the standalone needing to be in the Google Play Store or IOS equivalent; then
2) Permanently reside on the users mobile device; then
3) When the user wanted - run in the browser of the users mobile device regardless of whether or not the user had internet connectivity at the time?

If "Yes" then I might need to get myself a LC HTML license.

Thanks

Kim

[jacque]

I found a pretty good explanation here https://www.simicart.com/blog/what-is-p ... e-web-app/

Web apps can do what you want but development takes more than just HTML. You'll need Javascript and Web Assembly.

[mtalluto]

Maybe LiveCode Create (currently under development) would be a good fit. You can create apps that will run in a web browser. I am not sure what your timeframe is on this project. If it needs to be done soon, you may need to do what Jacque suggested.

LiveCode released a video showing what the experience will look like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfxCiuec--k

[FourthWorld]

How complex is the app? HTML is easy, JavaScript is powerful good fun, and CSS is an amazing superset of LC layout capabilities. Tools and tutorials are everywhere.

You can learn to do this in truly native web tech if schedule permits. And if schedule for this project doesn't permit it's still worth learning for the next one. JS is useful to know for LC work too.

[LCMark]

@KimD: Yes - the LiveCode Web (HTML5) engine could be used to create a PWA.

The web engine itself is downloaded and runs entirely client-side - after that the your app controls any remote access via url requests - just as with all the other (native) platform engines. (Indeed the best way to think about the LC Web engine is that it is an executable which runs in a virtual machine provided by the browser - WASM/JS - and uses the browser JS/HTML5 APIs as the platform).

Making a web app a PWA is more a packaging thing - you need to provide a json manifest which defines some informative about the app.

Making a PWA offline requires adding some startup JS code to ensure that all the resources needed to run the app (in the case of an LC Web app this would be at a minimum the engine files and your apps ‘standalone.zip’).

An example of doing this would probably make a good blog post / lesson - I’ll make sure it’s added to the list of those we have to make

[KimD]

Thanks Jacque, Mark, Richard & LCMark. There isn't a specific timeframe on this. I'm 60, have no JS experience, and work in the environmental-sciences and humanitarian sectors. Both of these sectors require systems that function effectively in offline and low-connectivity modes. A few years ago I used LC to develop Windows + Android + IOS standalones for client AAA. The app in question allows users to enter data into four forms, stores that data locally, then transmits the data to a central db when connectivity allows. The app is meeting AAA's current needs, but AAA is signaling their preference - when the time comes to replace the current app - to move from native apps to Progressive Web Apps. I'm currently a couple of weeks into teaching myself Drupal because I think that using LC generated apps to collect data, then having Drupal act as a central data repository & data visualization tool, has a lot of appeal for the sectors that I work in. I need to keep an eye on PWAs because I don't want to be caught out if there is a significant move away from native apps. I'm not currently convinced that PWAs offer a big advantage over LC generated native apps, but if my client(s) are convinced of that then... It would be great, for me personally, if LC could produce PWAs without me needing to learn JS. But maybe, after I've finished teaching myself Drupal, I just need to bit the bullet and learn JS. Thanks again. Kim