Twitter is testing new web-based interface, using PWA technology

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Twitter announced that it has begun testing the newly designed interface of Twitter.com. According to reports, Twitter has presented a new user interface to some desktop users, hoping to increase the loading speed and support the recently added bookmark function, provincial traffic mode and night mode.

https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1037742693575733248

These users who participated in the test were randomly selected. Twitter hopes to test the interface effect in this way and solicit feedback from users.

The new interface is not much different from the old one, but the organisation is different. A two-column layout replaces the current three-column layout, but the overall experience is still very similar.

But what matters is not the interface itself, but the technology it uses – PWA. The industry often refers to PWA as Progressive Web Apps. PWA is a web application developed based on some modern browser features that provide a more similar experience to traditional applications. For example, PWA can support offline operation, integrate platform functions such as notifications, and even be fixed on the application launch bar or home screen to provide effects similar to real-world applications, not just a web page.

Twitter has been quietly developing PWA for a few months. Turning some desktop users into the code is the most exciting way to use PWA so far.

In the long run, the widespread adoption of PWA technology means that Steve Jobs’ vision of smartphone applications is expected to be realised. He hopes that SDKs or new development tools and languages will no longer be needed, and web applications can be used to develop native apps.