Although Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world and in which more companies are involved in its development, the reality is that there are still many things to improve on Google’s operating system. And today, Google has joined one of the most powerful companies in software development such as Microsoft, which together with the Mountain View company will improve one of the aspects that has become more popular in Android in recent years.
We are talking about progressive web applications, those that can be created in seconds on a phone and that are basically an application-adapted website with more functions, but with less weight than an application and much easier and faster to create and install.
Google knows that these progressive web apps have been gaining popularity in recent years, so it has sought to partner with Microsoft to further improve these types of applications thanks to the technology of the Redmond company.
Microsoft and Google looking for improvements for Android
We must not forget that, for Microsoft, Android has become an important point for the integration of its products and services, since they will soon launch their first phone with the Google operating system, and they have also created an internal development team exclusively for the integration of Microsoft products and services in Android.
But the association between the two companies has to do with the integration of Microsoft’s PWA Builder technology with that of Google’s BubbleWrap, which we have already mentioned are aimed at creating and improving progressive web applications.
PWA Builder’s main attraction is to make the creation of native web applications for different operating systems very easy, and it has a great customization option for developers. In the case of BubbleWrap, this tool is similar to that of Microsoft, but it is only focused on Android.
With the union of both tools, developers can now use PWA Builder and have better support on Android thanks to BubbleWrap without the need to make any additional adjustments or add more steps to development.
On the other hand, developers will have the option to further customize their web app by changing elements such as the appearance of the Android status bar and the navigation bar in the application, customize the Android welcome screen, change the launcher name, use an existing signing key, use deeper push notification support, configure the app’s package ID and version control, and more.
Also, the direct access support will be improved, with which we can pin a website to the Windows taskbar or to the Android home screen.
When will it be available?
This integration is now available to developers, so they can take advantage of Microsoft and Google technologies to improve their progressive web applications.