Updates to a long running app added to home screen

Created by: danielkcz

First I would note that I've never used service workers nor I've attempted to make a PWA app.

I am developing an app that is expected to be used on tablets for a long period of times without closing it or using anything else. Additional requirement is to be able to add that app to a home screen.

I've read through a making-a-progressive-web-app document and there is apparently a contradiction to my use case.

If I enable service worker I should be able to get "add to home screen" prompt which is great. Unfortunately, if I understand it correctly, the app won't be updated until force killed. That's not a great UX really. We have like hundreds of clients using this and it's a nonsense to email them "kill the app".

What I would basically like to see is some in-app popup that there is an update to the app and they need to restart it. I am not sure if it's possible to restart a mobile app using Javascript. That would be even better :)

So I am wondering what are my options here. I assume it's mostly about writing my own custom service worker, but it feels so overwhelming at this moment. I could use some basic pointers.