I built a Progressive Web App (PWA) that extracts text from images shared to it. It uses the Share Target API to receive images, the Shape Detection API's TextDetector to analyze them, and EXIF-Js to handle image rotation issues. While it's a handy tool, it currently suffers from cross-browser and cross-version compatibility problems due to the lumpy nature of the web platform. The code snippets highlight key implementation details, like manifest setup, service worker handling, text extraction, and image rotation.
This blog post is a test of the Android Share Target API and its file sharing capabilities. If the image displays successfully, the test is considered successful.
This post discusses the problem of content silos on the web, particularly how native apps dominate sharing functionalities, limiting the web's reach. It highlights the irony of navigator.share, which, while enabling web sharing, still directs users towards native apps. The post emphasizes the need for the web to participate more actively in user interactions. It celebrates the 'Improved add to home-screen' feature for PWAs on Android, generating APKs and making them function more like native apps. Finally, it introduces the promising 'Share Target API', allowing PWAs to receive shared content, including links, thus breaking down silos and fostering a more inclusive web ecosystem.
