Web apps and mixed reality: a vision the Glitch community has been leading
This is a very exciting time for the open web. From the recent updates to Safari enabling native app experiences in the browser, to this week’s announcement of the new mixed reality headset, Vision Pro, at WWDC, a whole new community of makers is being introduced to cutting edge tech built for, and oftentimes with, a web browser. We’re glad to see Apple expanding their support for what the Glitch community has been building and advocating for over the last 6 years: creative, compelling experiences built using open web standards.
[Progressive] Web Apps #
The phrase “progressive web app” dates back to almost exactly 8 years ago, and I would be remiss to not give due credit to the Chrome Developer Relations team and its alumni since then for their advocacy and education for the experience of app-like interactions in the browser that has performance at top of mind. You can find many starters for “PWAs” from them on Glitch, like @petele’s Your First PWA playlist. This is the technology behind Apple’s new support for what they’re simply calling “Web Apps” but you can build with and use them today.
Progressive web apps like writepad.glitch.me enable native app experiences without the walled garden around development, or necessity of device specificity.
By the way, if you’re one of the 100,000+ people who have remixed Glitch in Bio, you’ve already created a progressive web app that can be installed and works offline. And we just launched our newest PWA starters that give you everything you need to build installable apps and also send push notifications.
Mixed Reality #
Virtual and augmented reality are buildable for the browser thanks to WebXR, an API that enables browsers and mixed reality devices to connect, libraries like Three.js which enable 3D creations to come to life in the browser, and 3D engines like Needle Tools (whose incredible site runs on Glitch!). Much like PWAs, the Glitch community has been building and innovating with 3D experiences for several years; one of our earliest communities to truly adopt and grow on Glitch was A-frame, a web framework for building virtual reality that uses Glitch to host their starter app!
An even more dynamic, scene-changing A-frame starter by @galaxykate
Our community has made all different kinds of apps in 3D, like the meditative and surreal ~homer-metaverse by @fcor, whose profile has even more playlists for WebXR learning and creativity. And ~koi-garden by @adarosecannon, an AR/VR developer at Apple, was a favorite call out in our community forum. Ada is also a co-chair of the Immersive Web Group and is my go-to creator for really well-made WebXR apps on Glitch.
koi-garden.glitch.me in action – turn on the sound for an instant chill vibe!
Just like with most of the examples Apple showed at WWDC, mixed reality can absolutely be more functional than creative, but on Glitch it’s *both. *Check out @emmettbaber’s 3D “XR in bio” and @nbackous’ virtual neon resume for inspiration.
Something that I think is really special about the WebXR community is how engaged and eager to educate the maintainers of its most prolific libraries are. You’ll hardly find a question on Stack Overflow about A-frame unanswered or without help from maintainer @dmarcos, or someone sharing their Three.js project without encouragement from its creator @mrdoob, who also works on the model-viewer component that Glitch uses to show 3D files in the editor’s Assets panel.
This model-viewer component tester shows you the controls you can use when embedding your own 3D models in the browser.
I have always found building an open web to be so exciting, but right now feels really special as we see not only the evolution of 3D imagery, native-app-like interactions, and overall more performant experiences in the browser, but also the evolution of the developer experience when creating them. Everyone who is looking to experiment, play, and even build their next great app is welcome to do so on Glitch, and they’ll be alongside the friendliest and most knowledgeable developers in the space. And we made it easier than ever to get you started. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for the web, and what the Glitch community continues to create with it!
The header image of this post is a screenshot of ~castle-staging, a virtual castle building app deployed from Unity to Glitch using Needle by the creators of Needle!