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Twitter demonstrates the future of Windows 10 apps

Twitter demonstrates the future of Windows 10 apps

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Microsoft revealed earlier this year that the company will fully support Progressive Web Apps (PWA) in Windows 10. These new apps use the latest web technologies to make websites work better offline, and include support for push notifications. They’re lightweight apps, and many companies are starting to shift their mobile apps towards PWAs. Microsoft is planning to allow PWAs in the company’s Microsoft Store, and Twitter is the first major example.

Twitter has been working on its Windows 10 app for years, but its always been behind the features you find on Twitter’s native iOS and Android apps, or the web version of the service. A new design launched in 2015, followed by new features in 2016, but Twitter never even added 280 character support for its Windows 10 app last year. Twitter is clearly shifting its Windows focus towards PWAs, as the existing store app will transform into a PWA once the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update is available.

Twitter’s new Windows 10 app
Twitter’s new Windows 10 app
Zac Bowden (Twitter)

Twitter’s latest Windows 10 app is mostly just a web app

Twitter has started previewing its PWA app, and it literally looks like the web version of Twitter wrapped into an app. That’s going to be useful for many who want the latest features, but it does mean some features have been lost in the process. While the app is still in early preview, it doesn’t seem to support pasting in pictures from the Windows clipboard, which is a basic feature. Hopefully that’s resolved before the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update arrives next month.

Twitter is the first big name to switch its Universal Windows App over to a PWA, and there will likely be many more. These web apps look like they will be the future of many Windows apps. Starbucks, Tinder, Uber, Instagram, and Pinterest all have PWA-enabled apps, and this could mean we’ll start to see more of these types of apps in the Microsoft Store. That’s a good thing for Windows 10 users, but it does cast a doubt over whether these companies will ever want to move their PWAs over to a Universal Windows App. Microsoft is planning to further detail its plans for PWAs at the company’s Build developer conference in May.