Some web apps

I think I have made it a habit to write a web app when I can't find a tool I really trust. Here are some of those apps.

The apps are web pages

To use them you visit their web pages below.

You may wonder why I do not write "real/native" apps insted.

My answer is that advanced web pages apps (technically called PWA) today can do mostly anything that "native" apps can do for you as a user. And it is much less job to write a web page for something complicated than to write a native app for it.

But the main reason I prefer PWA:s is security. 🛡️

I asked Claude AI for a link to a web page that explained this is a non-technical way. Neither the AI or I could find such a web page. However, to my surprise Claude found an analogy that is very good:

Maybe the angle is everyday analogies rather than technical concepts. Something like:
  • A native app is like letting someone into your house — you checked their ID at the door, but once they're in, they can move around.
  • A PWA is like talking to someone through a window — less vetting, but they can't actually get inside.

It is some extra work to make a web app into a PWA. A main benefits are that a PWA can work offline. And some abilities are not available without making it info a PWA.

Currenlty I believe I have made "Compass" into a PWA (for obvious reasons). Those web apps that are PWA:s have a mark: PWA🛡️

Enabling a PWA

A web page written to be a PWA does not automatically become a PWA for you in your web browser. You must tell the web browser to give the PWA the capabilities it is built for.

There are some good reasons for this since a PWA can have more capabilities. However I think it could have been called something better than "Install" in the web browser. But that is what it is called today. Why not call it "Enable PWA capabilities"?