New Progressive Web App (PWA)

[PeterMarotto]

I saw the email about the Zoom Software Lifecycle Policy, and it included a link to the article on how to use PWA with Chromebook.

Does anyone know if PWA is to be used only with Chromebook or is it recommended/required for any user that uses Chrom as their web browser? 

Is PWA supported on MacBook Pro?

[Bort]

The PWA can be used on Chromebooks, as well as Windows, macOS, and Linux devices, as long as they meet the Chrome browser requirements. While this is the main option for Chromebook users, users on Windows, macOS, and Linux devices should use the full desktop client instead, as it has more features than the PWA, although the PWA is a great workaround for when the desktop client is having issues.

Hope that helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.

[WarrenPet]

Hello Bort,

I am trying to get the Zoom PWA for Firefox, since that is mentioned in (an article about) the Zoom PWA for ChromeBook.  Having the same browser for sharing of documents as the Zoom app will be annoying, since I prefer to show the documents in full screen mode to minimize distraction while maximizing the text to be shared.  As someone who is visually impaired, it makes a big difference in legibility (especially on tiny screens like a phone).  Switching from one full screen tab to another is possible with a keyboard, I guess, but I don't know how it is done on a tablet/phone.  Though now that I think about it, pinned documents (Chromebook taskbar) are no longer automatically opened in Chrome, so maybe this won't be such a problem.  I still would like to try the Zoom for Firefox on Linux, though.

Thanks, Warren

[Bort]

Hi @WarrenPet 

Unfortunately, the PWA is not officially listed as an installable addon for Firefox, but the PWA can still be accessed through the direct link: https://pwa.zoom.us/wc/

To be able to open and display documents in Firefox, while also sharing your screen through the PWA on Firefox, you might consider opening the PWA in its own Firefox window, so that you can quickly swap between the shared window and the PWA. Even better would be to place the PWA Firefox window on a 2nd screen, so that you can continue to see your participants while sharing the 1st screen. 

Hope that helps, but let me know if you have any other questions. 

[WarrenPet]

Hello again,  Bort!

On Chromebook I wanted to use 2 separate browsers for my zoom sessions.  1 for displaying the Zoom session, and the other for displaying the documents to be shared.  Until recently the pinned documents were displayed in Chrome, and I have never tried displaying multiple windows for Chrome on my Chromebook, let alone to see if one could be full screen while the other was not.  My normal setup for document sharing requires my calling on participants to do readings of the documents (shown in a full screen browser) shared (through the Zoom app); if the PWA behaves like the app, the displaying of the participants panel gets very weird in full screen (the app would float it seperately over the main panel).  However, the update to ChromeOS 2-3 times ago now uses a separate document rendering app, which makes the problem with Zoom PWA in Chrome moot.

I appreciate your response, and will try the direct link (to the Zoom PWA) in Firefox on Linux, as well as Firefox on Linux under ChromeOS.  I have used Zoom pretty much every day since the start of the time of isolation, and am very grateful for a stable application (across 4 platforms).

Thanks again, Warren

[WarrenPet]

FWIW:  Using the Zoom PWA site for Firefox worked for Linux (Mint 19.3), and did not work for Firefox on Linux in ChromeOS.  The use of the mic and camera must be properly configured for Linux to share under ChromeOS, and I haven’t bothered to do so, yet.

[jasonRP]

Quick question. .I tried to install the Zoom for chrome PWA on my chromebook, which has the latest ChromeOS installed 106..... but when I go to the google play store. It shows" This app is not available for your device". Why is that?

[Bort]

Not sure. You might have to contact Google directly to find out why your Chromebook does not support a PWA 

[AntoonTheijs]

Hi Bort,

Maybe a stupid question but can't find an answer despite some searching work. the Progressive Web App is intended for Chromebook users. That's clear to me. Does this only have to do with the Google browser or also with the Chrome OS?

Specifically, the question is: Android phones are also affected by this? Like a Samsung Smartphone?

Thanks for the reply.

Regards, Antoon

[Bort]

Hi @AntoonTheijs 

Since Chromebooks, and ChromeOS in general, cannot install outside apps, the PWA is the replacement for the soon-to-be deprecated ChromeOS Zoom app, but the PWA can also be run on most Chrome browsers on other OS platforms, such as Windows and macOS. 

As for mobile devices, we have a dedicated Zoom app for both Android and iOS devices, which is separate from the PWA, and can be installed directly from each device's mobile app store (Google Play or the Apple App Store). 

Hope that helps, but let me know if you have any other questions.