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Publishing a Progressive Web App (PWA)

PWAs on the dApp Store​

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are web applications that use modern web capabilities to deliver an app-like experience to users.

They offer several advantages:

  • Work across all devices and platforms
  • Provide offline functionality
  • Stays up to date with

PWAs can be published on the dApp Store, as an Android app wrapped within a Trusted Web Activity (TWA).

Trusted Web Activities (TWAs)​

Trusted Web Activities (TWAs) allow you to package your PWA into an Android app. TWAs use Chrome to render the web app, providing a full screen, native-like experience without any browser UI.

Once you create a TWA, you will have an Android APK file and you can follow the dApp publishing guide to submit the app.

Follow the guide below to get your PWA ready for the dApp Store.

Tutorial: Converting a PWA to an Android App​

This guide shows you how to:

  • Install the Bubblewrap CLI tool
  • Build the TWA and output an APK
  • Generate the Digital Asset Link for the APK

By the end, you will have a functional, signed release APK that can be published on the dApp Store!

Prequisites​

If missing an existing web manifest, you can follow this resource to create one for your website.

1. Installing Bubblewrap CLI​

Bubblewrap CLI is a tool that simplifies the process of converting your PWA into an Android app using TWA.

Requires Node 14.15.0 and above

npm i -g @bubblewrap/cli

2. Initializing Your Project​

In a new directory, run the init command and supply the URL to your web manifest. Bubblewrap will download the existing manifest and use it to help fill in metadata for the TWA's manifest.

bubblewrap init --manifest https://your-pwa-url.com/manifest.json

This command will guide you through the process of creating the TWA manifest for the project.

  • If it asks to install additional tooling (e.g Android SDK, JDK, or build tools), it is necessary and you should allow it to install.

Manifest Configuration​

It will also prompt a series of questions regarding configurations for:

  • Domain and URL path
    • Ensure this points directly to where your PWA is hosted.
  • Display mode and Status Bar settings
    • See the Android documentation to see how Status Bar and Navigation Bars appear and decide what configuration is appropriate for your app.
  • Splash Screen and Icons
    • Create a cohesive splash screen by providing a splash screen color and an icon that displays over it.
  • Keystore location and Password
    • See Caution below.
caution

The init command will ask you to generate an Android Keystore and password.

The Android Keystore is a security tool that:

  • Contains a private key used to digitally sign your app. This signature is used to verify the app's authenticity and integrity.
  • The same key must be used to sign all future updates of your app. This ensures that only you can make updates to your app.

Keep the Keystore file and password secure – losing them can prevent future app updates. Consider following Google's official guide for best practices around Keystore management.

After completion, Bubblewrap will create in your directory:

  • A twa-manifest.json configured with the options from above.
  • TWA Android project files generated from twa-manifest.json.
note

The Android project is entirely generated from the twa-manifest.json, so you only need to include twa-manifest.json in source control. The Android project files are unncessary to track as they are generated.

Any changes to the Android project will be deleted or overwritten by the update command (explained in the Updating your TWA section).

3. Building the Android APK​

The next step is to build initialized Android project and output a signed release APK. This APK is what you will submit for publishing on the dApp Store.

In the same directory, run:

bubblewrap build

This command will

  • If it asks to install additional tooling (e.g Android SDK, JDK, or build tools), you should allow it to install.

The last step is to declare your app's Digital Asset Links (DAL). DALs establish a secure connection between your website and the Android app.

tip

This step is required for the PWA to display in a full screen, native-like experience. If missing, the PWA will display Chrome browser UI (e.g the URL bar).

Declare the connection by adding the SHA256 fingerprints of your app’s signing certificate at https://your-domain.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json.

  1. Generate the SHA256 fingerprint from the Keystore:
keytool -list -v -keystore android.keystore
  1. Add the fingerprint to your TWA manifest:
bubblewrap fingerprint add <SHA256_fingerprint>
  1. Generate the DAL assetlinks.json file:
bubblewrap fingerprint generateAssetLinks

It should generate a file named assetlinks.json configured with the SHA256 fingerprint.

  1. Publish the generated assetlinks.json file at: https://your-domain.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json

Congrats! You have successfully converted your PWA into a working Android app.

Testing Your App​

If you have an emulator or testing device ready, you can install the APK with:

bubblewrwap install app-release-signed.apk

Ensure the app is working as expected before submitting to the dApp Store.

tip

If you are seeing the browser navigation bar at the top of the app, your app's Digital Asset Links might not be configured correctly.

Double check that you followed Step 4 and have correctly published your app's SHA256 fingerprint.

Updating your TWA​

If you want to release a new version of the app with changes to the TWA manifest (e.g Updating the icon), you can make edits to twa-manifest.json and run the command:

bubblewrap update --manifest=./path/to/twa-manifest.json

This command regenerates the entire Android project from the twa-manifest.json and bumps the app version. The manifest is preserved, while any manual changes to the previous Android project are deleted or overwritten.

After this you can run bubblewrap build again to generate the signed release APK.

Publishing to dApp Store​

Once you have a signed APK, you can proceed with publishing as if you were publishing a normal Android app.

Follow the step by step dApp publishing guide to submit your signed release APK.