UPDATE 3:
Service workers sent to Safari for iOS March 30, 2018!
UPDATE 2:
On January 24, 2018, an Apple developer named Ricky Mondello tweeted:
https://twitter.com/rmondello/status/956256845311590400
"iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4 include Service Workers, a powerful specification that allows background scripts to include stand-alone web applications. iOS 11.3 also refers to the web application manifest when adding web applications to the home screen."
Astonishing!
There is no word on push notifications yet, but still amazing news.
EDIT:
I wrote an article calling Apple on this subject:
https://m.phillydevshop.com/apples-refusal-to-support-progressive-web-apps-is-a-serious-detriment-to-future-of-the-web-e81b2be29676
It was published on hacker news and received a good response on Twitter. A week later, they began development on it. So - stay tuned, it seems, finally on this way!
ORIGINAL RESPONSE:
"So it's not just about Service Worker and App Manifest."
In my opinion, this is exactly what PWA - the service employee actually says. This is what allows you to do all the amazing things that PWA makes possible. The baseline could be reached over time, and although Google technically set them as the base classification, these things are not what PWA really does what it is. Otherwise, this is just a regular responsive web application in my book.
Here is a list of things you still can't do with mobile safari due to Apple's refusal to support them (because they will lose money in the app store):
- Create application loading screen
- Use push notifications
- Add offline support
- Create an initial application user interface for immediate download
- Quick installation on your home screen through a browser dialog
The accepted answer really paints the wrong picture here. I have brought to the limit the experience of a “mobile” apple in a mobile safari, and it is still pretty bad. I have had numerous problems with the full screen mode of mobile safari, and Apple just does not care about them. He is treated like a second-class citizen, because he does not generate money, like an application store.
You’ll notice that if you add a new and amazing Twitter responsive / redundant mobile site to your iOS home screen, it won’t open in full screen mode. I suspect that, for the same reasons that I found, there are a lot of mistakes, and none of the Apple team worked on them.
The boot screen, which was once possible in full-screen iOS mode, which was available in the manifest of the web application, mysteriously stopped working, without any comments from Apple on their message forums on this topic. And the need to tell users: “Oh hey, just click the Share button, and then go to“ Add to Home Screen ”” is a terrible way to solve problems.
This is a sad state of affairs. The list in the current accepted answer should be called "Base responsive list of web applications."
And to answer the question here - no, there is no alternative, and you can’t do anything. You need to play the Apple game, pay $ 100 to get access to the application store, and also learn a completely different and more complex programming language and keep a completely separate code base.
I just spent 6 months learning React Native for a client project, and that was great. I highly recommend it. You can create truly native applications using JavaScript and share your codebase between iOS and Android.
To be clear, I'm not against Apple. I use iPhone and develop on Mac. But this aspect of their business strategy is certainly a shame.