Should you turn your Squarespace site into a PWA?
Can you make your Squarespace site installable? How long does it take? What PWA features does the platform support? These are some of the questions I'll try answering in this quickstart guide.
Why choose Squarespace and Progressier for your PWA?
Squarespace probably isn't the best choice for a PWA. While Squarespace is a good tool for building websites, other no-code builders like Webflow or Bubble just offer a lot more possibilities when it comes to building apps. Even WordPress is a better option — it's just so much more flexible.
Also it's worth noting that the A in PWA stands for app. If your Squarespace property is a website, chances are you don't really even need to bother making it a PWA at all. There are some categories of sites for which it makes sense, e.g. online stores and some blogs. But your portfolio sites and marketing landing pages don't really need to be PWAs.
How long does it take to turn your Squarespace site into a PWA?
It's pretty quick! A few minutes at most. Once you've signed up to Progressier, choose Squarespace when prompted to select how your app was built. Enter a name for your app and the URL of your Squarespace site. You can either enter the default .squarespace.com URL or your own custom domain — it doesn't really matter either way.
How can you make your Squarespace site installable?
Progressier creates a wrapper around your website with the install and push functionality. While you won't directly be able to install your Squarespace site as a PWA from your existing domain, the software will generate a standalone install page for you. Here is an install page example: install.page/covid. Share your own link with users within the body of your app or via social media.
Can you send push notifications with Squarespace?
Progressier also comes with a complete push notification toolkit. It lets you prompt users to authorization notifications, and then compose, send and schedule notifications. You'll be able to send mass push campaigns to all your users. But due to the limitations of the Squarespace platform itself, you won't be able to send individual personalized notifications programmatically.
Which PWA features does Squarespace support?
Android Installation
Get your PWA installed on any Android smartphone or tablet, just like a native app.
iOS Installation
Progressier walks users through the process of installing your app on their iPad or iPhone.
Windows Installation
Your Squarespace PWA is installable from Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge and can be added to a Desktop or Taskbar.
macOS Installation
Get your app installed on macOS from Chrome — Progressier walks users through installing your PWA to their Docks.
Chrome OS Installation
Let users add your PWA to their Chrome OS laptop.
Install Page
A familiar app store installation experience bundled in a single-purpose page for your users.
Original Domain Installation
Due to the limitations of the platform, it's not possible to install your app as PWA from your own domain. Progressier provides an alternative custom domain for installation purposes that looks like elonmusk.installable.app.
Web App Manifest
Progressier builds a PWA manifest with your preferences set in the dashboard, with toggles and inputs instead of lines of code
Service Worker
A service worker is a file that continues running in the browser even after the web page that has registered it has closed. For a domain to be a PWA, it must have a service worker hosted at the root. Unfortunately, Squarespace does not support adding a service worker to your domain.
Cache Static Resources
This platform doesn't provide an option to modify the service worker file, so it's not possible to cache static resources.
100% Offline-Ready
Without full server-side control over the resources, it's not usually possible to make a site work offline entirely with a no-code app builder like Squarespace.
Push Campaigns
Notify all your users of news in your app with our dashboard and/or API. Progressier manages all user push subscriptions for you.
Personalized Notifications
Other app builders allow you to send notifications to a particular user. It's not currently possible with this platform.
Connect User Data
With Squarespace, it's not currently possible to sync your user data (e.g. emails, names or account types). Bubble is the best no-code option for that.
In-App PWA Promotion
Everything you need to encourage users to install your app on their devices.
Offline Alerts
Display an in-app alert when users go offline.
Request Notifications After Installation
Automatically prompt users to authorize notifications after they've installed your PWA on their device.
Install & Push Analytics
Progressier tracks installs of your Squarespace PWA over time. Also tracks push subscriptions.
Programmatic PWA Creation
Create Squarespace PWAs programmatically with our API.
Google Play & App Store Upload
Since Squarespace doesn't allow their users to install PWAs from their own domain, it's not possible to make it available through Google Play or the App Store as a PWA.
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