Google has made Web Apps an important step towards native applications with its continuous efforts towards "Progressive Web Applications" (WPA). In the new version of Chrome tool, it introduces Web Bundles technology to completely bridge the gap between the two. It is reported that the framework can not only make Web Apps work offline, but also can be installed from USB and other drive media. It also has functional technologies such as background synchronization and content indexing, which can continue to run seamlessly when the Internet is interrupted.
(Title via MSPU)
The toolkit allows developers to package the entire website into an offline file, and even includes SMS reception, contact selection, file system access and other functions for authentication.
The following are some features of Web bundles described by Google:
● Support multi page encapsulation and package the entire website into one file;
● Different from MHTML, it can enable executable JavaScript;
● HTTP Variants are used for content negotiation. If it is used offline, the Accept Language international language support can be enabled in the header;
● Support the publisher's encrypted signature and load it in the context of its source;
● Local instant loading.
The following are some use cases given by Google:
● Create your own content and distribute it in various ways without being restricted by the network;
● Share a Web App or a piece of content with friends through Bluetooth or Wi Fi Direct;
● Install the entire site in a USB drive, or even host it in the local network.
Interested friends can activate this experimental function (Web Bundle) in Chrome browser. However, with the continuous enhancement of the functions of Web Apps, HTML viruses may appear sooner or later.
