Progressive Web Application (PWA)

Term 25 of 68 in the ERPStack technical glossary

Progressive Web Application (PWA) at a glance

Requirements

3 pieces: HTTPS, a web app manifest, and a service worker controlling the cache

Offline model

Queue writes locally, replay when connectivity returns — every replay must be idempotent

Distribution

1 URL, 0 app store review cycles, updates delivered on next load

Best fit

Warehouse scanners, field service and shop-floor terminals on unreliable networks

Built with

Next.js 16 and React 19 with a service worker and Tailwind CSS 4, writes queued locally and replayed into PostgreSQL 18 through Drizzle ORM 0.45, hosted on Vercel or AWS with Sentry reporting

Numbers that matter

3 requirements — HTTPS, manifest, service worker; 1 URL instead of 2 app store submissions; 0 review cycles; 1 idempotency key per queued write

Compare with

A native app, a plain React 19 web application with no service worker, or an Electron desktop build talking to the same REST API

Commonly paired with

Edge Caching / CDN in front of Next.js 16 and React 19, Idempotency in API Design on replay, PostgreSQL 18 and Redis behind the API, Tailwind CSS 4 for the shell, Vercel or AWS hosting, Playwright 1.59 offline tests and Sentry

Offline write path

1 local queue, 1 idempotency key per write, replayed against PostgreSQL 18; Redis absorbs the burst when 50 devices reconnect at once

Field hardware

Warehouse scanners and shop-floor terminals in logistics, manufacturing and retail, served by Next.js 16 and React 19 through Edge Caching / CDN with Tailwind CSS 4 in the shell.

Sync path

Queued writes replay into PostgreSQL 18 through Drizzle ORM 0.45 with Idempotency in API Design on every key, Redis absorbing the burst, Sentry reporting a replay that fails twice.