PWA (Progressive Web App) in Hummerce makes the online store behave on the customer's phone much like an app - with its own home-screen icon, faster page loads and a basic offline mode. The customer installs the store without an app store, and Hummerce doesn't require building and maintaining a separate native app for that.
Last updated: 2026-09-29.
¶ Benefits and use cases
- Store icon on the phone's home screen - the customer returns to the store with one tap, without searching for the address or a browser bookmark.
- Faster loading on return visits - part of the page's resources are cached on the device and loaded without fetching them from the network again.
- Basic offline operation - a customer without internet access sees a prepared store page instead of a browser error.
- No native app to build - an effect close to a mobile app, without the cost and time of building and maintaining a separate Android and iOS app.
- Pointing to a native app, if the store has one - the manifest can suggest the browser install the Play Store app instead of the PWA.
- The store serves a
manifest.json file, generated from panel settings (name, icons, colors, display mode). The browser uses it when installing the home-screen icon.
- The manifest's content can be checked in the browser's developer tools (e.g. Chrome, the Application -> Manifest tab).
- Android - the browser decides on its own when to offer installation; Hummerce additionally shows its own install prompt, whose text the store can edit.
- iOS - the system doesn't read the manifest file. Hummerce provides the icon, splash screen and status bar appearance for iOS separately, and shows its own, editable install prompt (add to home screen) a few seconds after the page loads.
- Dismissing the install prompt is remembered in a browser cookie, so it isn't shown on every visit.
- Installing the PWA registers a service worker in the browser - a mechanism that stores part of the page's resources on the device.
- When the customer loses their internet connection, instead of a browser error they see a chosen static store page (by default the page with symbol
pwa-offline), saved on the device at install time.
- Android supports PWA to the full extent described above.
- iOS supports PWA to a narrower extent - it doesn't read the manifest, and needs a separate set of graphics and prompts prepared during implementation.
- Available from version 2.23.92.
- Latest changes in the module: version 2.24.
- SSL (HTTPS) - required on the production and the test environment; without it the browser won't register the service worker.
- Graphics: app icons in four sizes and, for iOS, a full set of splash screens and icons in several variants.
- Redirecting the
/manifest.json address to the file that generates the manifest - server configuration done during implementation.
- The text of the install prompts (Android and iOS) - editable content fragments (canvases), see Canvases and contents.
- Requires implementation - the module isn't part of a new store's standard configuration. Scope:
- preparing graphics: app icons (4 sizes) and, for iOS, icons and splash screens in several resolution variants,
- panel configuration (name, colors, display mode, start address),
- preparing the text of the Android and iOS install prompts,
- redirecting the manifest address on the server,
- testing on Android and iOS devices; the store's test-environment password protection has to be disabled for testing (PWA doesn't work in test mode),
- production rollout.
- Minimum estimated time: from 6 h (preparing graphics, panel configuration, testing on two systems). The time for a specific implementation depends on its scope - we quote it individually.
- What the time depends on:
- the number of graphic and splash-screen variants for iOS,
- whether the store's native app needs to be pointed to in the Play Store,
- how customized the install-prompt text is,
- the store version.
- Requires SSL on the test environment too.
- Doesn't work in the store's test mode - its password protection has to be disabled for testing.
- iOS doesn't read the manifest file - icons, the splash screen and the status bar have to be prepared and maintained separately for it.
- Offline mode only shows one, previously chosen static page - not the last content the customer browsed.
- The module doesn't send push notifications to the installed app.
- We do not verify the configuration for legal compliance (e.g. rights to the graphics and app content used) - that's decided by the store.
- Push notifications to the installed PWA app.
- PWA installation and usage events in the GA4 data layer.
Can a Hummerce store be installed like an app on a phone?
Yes, through the PWA module - the customer gets a home-screen icon without installing anything from an app store.
Does PWA require building a separate mobile app?
No. An effect close to an app is achieved from the existing online store, without the cost of building and maintaining a native app.
Does the store work without an internet connection?
Partly. A customer without a connection sees a previously prepared information page, not the full, last-browsed store content.
Does PWA work the same way on Android and iOS?
No. Android has full support and reads the app manifest. iOS needs separately prepared graphics and prompts, without reading the manifest.
Does PWA require an SSL certificate?
Yes, on the test environment too - without it the browser won't register the mechanism responsible for installation and offline mode.
How long does it take to launch PWA in a store?
From 6 h - depending on the number of graphic variants, whether the native app needs to be pointed to in the Play Store, and how customized the install-prompt text is.
Want to check how PWA could work in your store? Contact the Hummerce team (in Polish).
- Panel configuration: Configuration -> Settings, the Progressive Web App group:
- Enable / disable PWA,
- App short name, App name, Description (app description),
- PWA start address and utm_source parameter value - passed to Google Analytics after launching the app from the home screen,
- App background color, App theme color,
- Display mode - browser / fullscreen / minimal-ui / standalone,
- iOS status bar appearance - default / black / black-translucent,
- Native app ID in the Play Store - when the store also has a native app,
- Show PWA install prompt and Show PWA install prompt for iOS,
- Symbol of the canvas with the PWA install prompt and ...for iOS - point to the content (canvas) of the install prompt,
- Symbol of the static page shown offline (default
pwa-offline),
- app icons in four sizes (144, 192, 256, 512 px).
- Manifest address redirect on the server and the directory with PWA graphics - configured by the implementation team, outside the panel.
¶ REST API and MCP
No dedicated operations for the PWA module in REST API or in the AI assistant (MCP) - it's a panel configuration.
The module doesn't use the message editor. The text of the install prompts is ordinary content (canvases) with symbols given in the module's settings - editable under Content -> Canvases / Contents (Canvases and contents) or checked with the MCP tool ec2_canvas_details. The offline page's content is an ordinary static page pointed to by the Symbol of the static page shown offline setting.
The module doesn't add its own item, customer or order properties - all settings are module configuration in the panel (see Access in the admin panel).