Nefcairon
Hello,
TL;TR: I look for a lightweight compagnon (HTML/CSS & minimal JS) to milligram to build a PWA with phoenix.
Long version:
I want to improve in Phoenix (means: stop learning and do something productive) and implement my first “real”, but small project. Development will take time and I am in no hurry, so I will start with phoenix 1.4 in its current state, wait until it’s released and later integrate Phoenix.LiveView.
As you know Phoenix 1.4 comes with Milligram CSS and it seems to fit my “mobile first” approach: At least a “blank” phoenix 1.4 app looks much better an Android then phoenix 1.3. My future app should be as a progressive web application (PWA), and so “work” on Android and IOS as well as in the desktop world.
But as Milligram lacks on navigation elements I need something additionally. Currently I think I will need a mobile bottom navigation, cards and maybe a navbar “hamburger style” (though it seems that later is already “depricated”).
Are there any good lightweight components/frameworks? In my current situation I don’t want to learn any new “language” (as SASS), I want to stay within HTML/CSS/JS and Elixir - and use as little JS as possible. I don’t want to create a API with Phoenix/use a pure JS framework on the frontend, I want to create HTML with Phoenix that just “looks fine on smartphones and on desktop browsers”. I further value “lightweight” because of speed and second it’s easier to understand what enables me to learn from it.
I googled, looked at dozens of CSS frameworks (e.g. materializecss, which seems to be rather dead) and read the forum. Still I am unsure… So is there something you could recommend me? Do I have to use something big as bootstrap?
Thanks in advance.
Where Next?
Trending in Questions
Other Trending Topics
Latest Phoenix Threads
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Popular Tags
- #ecto
- #liveview
- #troubleshooting
- #learning-elixir
- #library
- #deployment
- #erlang
- #testing
- #genserver
- #mix
- #absinthe
- #remote-other
- #otp
- #plug
- #how-to-question
- #macros
- #postgres
- #elixirconf
- #channels
- #exunit
- #discussion
- #code-sync
- #podcasts
- #javascript
- #onsite
- #dialyzer
- #docker
- #authentication
- #umbrella
- #full-time-contract
- #podcasts-by-brainlid
- #ecto-query
- #elixirconf-us
- #blog-post
- #ai
- #elixir-ls
- #phoenix_html
- #iex
- #graphql
- #genstage
- #websockets
- #supervisor
- #advent-of-code
- #distillery
- #processes
- #api
- #forms
- #hex
- #security
- #metaprogramming
Our Sponsors
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.
Error tracking, logs, uptime, and Just Enough APM. Built for developers.
Elixir, Erlang & BEAM conferences from Code Sync - join us in 2026!
Practical resources that improve the lives of professional developers.
Master modern tools, write cleaner code, and tackle real-world challenges.
The deployment platform built for Elixir: PaaS ease, VPS control.
The team behind Membrane, Popcorn, LiveDebugger. Available for hire.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"
Showing Posts 1 to 10- Show Best Posts
- Show All (oldest first)
- Show All (newest first)
peerreynders
To me Progressive Web Application (PWA) implies a refinement of the Single Page Application concept which means it’s JS heavy and tends to use some sort of JS framework. For the time being “lightweight PWA” seems to be an oxymoron.
The implementation style you seek seems to be exemplified by the sidecar site (Github, article) which should be quite easy to emulate with Phoenix/EEx - it doesn’t even use a CSS framework but you have to know your CSS.
OvermindDL1
Yeah, PWA’s can be run entirely locally once downloaded, so they require javascript for any functionality. vue.js is really easy to get started with and going for PWA’s for one example.
Nefcairon
Ok, thank you. I learned something…
So i want to create something like WPA-light
I don’t need the offline functionality for my application as most people are almost always online.
What I really don’t like are pages that have almost no html when looked into their source code. It doesn’t feel right to me. For me there has to be HTML in the browser.
So I can go the JS route and my app will feel almost native on mobile devices or I can stay in my HTML/minimal-JS world and live with its downsides. So far I’m still undecided.
bryanjos
I don’t know if this helps or not, but I successfully created a non-spa PWA using Phoenix. Progressive Web Apps have a scale of functionality they can do. For me, I just wanted something that would make an icon on mobile devices and show a message about being offline when there was no connectivity. You can do a lot without having to build a full-fledged SPA.
Some helpful tools/readings for me were:
OvermindDL1
So you don’t need a PWA.
Nefcairon
I need ‘add to homescreen’ and look&feel of a native app, to be honest.
OvermindDL1
Anything but using native API’s always look horrible though…
Every react-native app or some embedded webview drives me nuts on my phone because they always just feel ‘wrong’, the inputs are handled wrong, the interactions are wrong, the activities are wrong… >.<
If you want a native look&feel app, you really should go native. I’m a huge proponent of that.
Nefcairon
Ever tried Elixir Forum on Android from a home screen icon? Feels absolutely as a native app for me.
James-Byrne
Hey @Nefcairon,
You’ll probably find Breethe by Simplabs interesting. They created a PWA with Glimmer as the frontend and Phoenix as the backend but included SSR content rather than just using a client/api combo.
As for your use case SSR content and a service worker should be enough to run the site as a PWA. And when it comes to css something lightweight would be best but not crucial. It should only effect the initial load. After that everything will be cached.
Breethe.app Repos:
OvermindDL1
Routinely! And it absolutely does not feel native. ^.^
The menu is in the wrong location, the menu accessor brings up the browser menu (not the page, even though it is a full screen page), can’t slide in the menu, doesn’t support activities, much slower than native, the buttons don’t look like buttons (they look like unthemed rectangles), etc… etc…
Now there are some fantastic apps that combine native and web use, like Sync for Reddit as one, they are fully native with all the features there-of but do a lot of web processing (mostly in the background to prepare for your use), that’s generally the way to go.