Progressive web applications , PWAs, are a new type of application that is becoming increasingly popular with users. Instead of having and loading a conventional program, what these applications do is load a browser engine (such as Edge or Chrome) and, on top of it, open a specially designed version of the web client. These applications are much lighter than conventional programs, easier to install and delete, and they provide us with a unified experience on all types of systems. The variety of PWAs that we can install is increasing. And OneDrive will join the list very soon.
OneDrive is Microsoft‘s cloud storage platform. Windows 10 integrates this cloud by default in several ways. For example, we can see a OneDrive folder integrated into the file explorer from which we can access our files as if they were saved on the hard drive (something very practical, really), and we will have a synchronization client, confusing and complicated , which is responsible for allowing us to configure the operation and control the synchronization tasks.
Microsoft continues to work on being able to simplify all its services and focus them more and more on web use. And one of the next to become a complete PWA, fully functional so that no one misses anything, will be this cloud.
What the new OneDrive PWA will offer us
Although there is still a lot of work ahead, Microsoft is already working on this new version of its cloud storage client as we can see in this roadmap . Microsoft promises that, after installing the PWA on the computer, we can run it as if it were another program installed on the PC and use it in the same way that we can use the web version from the browser.
OneDrive PWA wants to offer users the same functions and features now offered by the desktop program and the web. That is, we can upload and share files to download and access “offline” any of the files that we have saved in the cloud.
At the moment we do not know when this new PWA application will be ready, although Microsoft points out that the first version could be ready in mid-July, and complete, for everyone, in August. This progressive web application will be specially designed for PCs, Windows and macOS, and we can install it from Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
PWAs: a way to rid your PC of unnecessary programs
Progressive web applications are gaining significant popularity among users. Instead of downloading and installing dozens of programs on the computer, which we surely do not need (such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Spotify or the Apple Music client), these applications allow us to have these services without having to install anything else and without having to open the browser over and over again.
What PWAs do is use the browser engine to open a separate window to load the web service in question. All the data generated and saved by this program is saved in a separate directory on the PC. In this way, if we delete the PWA, we can delete all this data at once.
The fewer native programs we have installed on the computer, the more fluid the PC will work. And seeing how big companies like Microsoft support this application format is, of course, excellent news.
