Google is taking strides in the area of messaging app which has usually been lagging behind with Hangouts and GChat in its name. After introducing the “Meet” app to anyone with a Google account to combat Zoom, Google has made it loud and clear that it is making some progressive moves in the direction of messaging apps.
Google Chat, formerly known as Hangouts Chat is now available as a PWA. The reason why it is making news is its convenience and outreach. The new Google Chat has great compatibility with Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, and Linux.
What are Progressive Web Apps?
With more and more use of smartphones, every business has taken to the online domain. This has driven almost all products and services rendering companies to resort to mobile and web development. The web application development that covers the capabilities and experience of a mobile app is a progressive web app. PWA development is easily carried out with open-source Javascript libraries and HTML.
There are more mobile devices than there are people in urban areas. And, if you have a business and are facing the dilemma of whether to build a native app or a PWA, there is a thing or two to learn from the top-most in the business like Google and Flipkart to name a few.
So, it did not come as a surprise that Google Chat is now available as a progressive Web app.
Unique Characteristics of Google Chat PWA:
Google Chat PWA is a webpage that utilizes the device’s OS giving it the feel and experience of the native app or an iOS/Android app. Google, for a long, has been advocating the use of PWAs. You can simply use Google chat with the chrome browser. The only pre-requisite to make use of Google Chat is that you must have Chrome 73 or higher version for the same. It is also not necessary that the chrome web browser should be your default browser. It might be expected that even this limitation is ruled out in the near future.
There is no regular updates requirement as all the updates are automatically fetched through the web. As long as your Google chrome is up-to-date and well-functioning you can rest assured of using the latest PWA.
The loading performance is phenomenal of the new advanced Google Chat. It works seamlessly with Android and iOS devices.
Conclusion
This Google Chat PWA has been currently made available only to its G Suite customers. However, it may not be wrong to expect that the facility is made available to all Google users. So, if you are a G Suite user, get ready to experience the best with Google Chat PWA.