EDIT 3:
Service workers have shipped in Safari for iOS on March 30th, 2018!
EDIT 2:
An Apple developer by the name of Ricky Mondello tweeted this on January 24th, 2018:
https://twitter.com/rmondello/status/956256845311590400
"iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4 include Service Workers — a powerful specification that allows background scripts to power offline web applications. iOS 11.3 also consults Web App Manifest when adding web apps to the home screen."
Awesome!
No word of push notifications yet, but still amazing news.
EDIT:
I wrote an article calling out Apple on the topic:
https://m.phillydevshop.com/apples-refusal-to-support-progressive-web-apps-is-a-serious-detriment-to-future-of-the-web-e81b2be29676
It got posted to hacker news and got some good exposure on Twitter. A week later, they started development on it. So - stay tuned, it seems to be finally on it's way!
ORIGINAL ANSWER:
"So it's not just only about Service Worker and App Manifest."
In my opinion, that's exactly what a PWA is really about - the service worker. That is what allows you to do all the awesome things that PWA's make possible. The baseline has been possible to accomplish for a long time now, and while google has technically established them as a baseline classification, those things are not what really make a PWA what it is. Otherwise its just a regular responsive web app in my book.
Here are a list of things you still can't do with mobile safari due to Apple's refusal to support them (because they'll lose app store money):
- Create an app loading screen
- Use push notifications
- Add offline support
- Create an initial app UI to load instantly
- Prompt installation to the home screen through browser-guided dialog
The accepted answer really paints the wrong picture here. I've pushed the apple 'native' like experience in mobile safari to its limit, and it is still pretty bad. I've experienced numerous issues with mobile safari's full screen mode, and Apple just doesn't care about them. It's treated like a second class citizen because it doesn't generate money like the app store does.
You'll notice that if you add Twitter's new and awesome react/redux-based mobile site to your home screen on iOS, it doesn't open in full screen mode. I suspect that's for the same reasons that I found - bugs galore, with no one on Apple's team working on them.
The loading screen that was once possible in iOS fullscreen mode that was available in the web app manifest has mysteriously stopped working, with no comments from Apple whatsoever in their forums on posts on the topic. And having to tell users, "Oh hey, just click share, then slide over to 'Add to Home Screen" is a horrible way to have to go about things.
Its a sad state of affairs. The list in the current accepted answer should really be called "Baseline Responsive Web App List".
And to answer the question here - no, there is no alternative and there is nothing you can do. You have to play Apple's game, pay $100 to get access to the app store, and learn a completely different and more complex programming language, and keep a completely separate code base.
I just spent 6 months learning React Native for a client project, and it has been awesome. I would highly recommend it. You can create truly native apps using JavaScript and share your codebase between iOS and Android.
To be clear, I'm not anti-Apple. I use an iPhone and develop on a Mac. But this aspect of their business strategy is surely a shame.
