Progressive Web Apps are a great way to build a mobile app with offline support and push notifications. Using a single codebase, PWAs eliminate the cost of building and maintaining native apps.
This allows them to deliver a high-performance experience with no download or installation. Plus, users can save Progressive Web Apps to their home screen for easy access.
1. Ease of Development
If you already have a responsive website in place, Progressive Web Apps are an ideal next step. They make websites load faster across a range of mobile devices and offer features like Push Notifications, re-engagement functionality, offline support and the ability to be added to the home screen.
PWAs can be developed rapidly and deployed easily without requiring an app store or complex installation processes. They’re dependable and fast, displaying the user interface instantly regardless of network conditions. And they’re secure, avoiding the use of untrusted APIs and using best practices for healthy code.
Native apps, on the other hand, require significant development resources and can be expensive to maintain. The costs of an app can easily quadruple when factoring in ongoing monitoring, improvements and app store review processes (let’s not forget the infamous 30% Apple Tax). Progressive Web Apps eliminate the need for separate apps, which allows organisations to streamline multi-channel strategies and reduce time to market. This is especially important for businesses with limited budgets.
2. Reliability
With search engine optimization (SEO) being one of the key pillars in digital marketing, it’s important for brands to have a reliable web experience. PWAs deliver this by reducing loading times, making them easier to access on mobile devices and guaranteeing a smooth user experience, regardless of the device’s hardware or connectivity status.
Additionally, due to service workers, which allow the web app to be cached and used offline, progressive apps can deliver a smooth experience even in low-quality network conditions. This is why they are so useful for businesses that want to reach a global audience.
For example, Flipboard developed a PWA to provide users with a sleek and reliable magazine reading experience that reduces data usage. It also provides features that users associate with native apps, such as push notifications and the option to install on the home screen. This gives users a seamless experience that makes them feel like they are using an app rather than a website. In turn, this increases engagement and conversion rates.
3. Speed
PWAs are developed with modern web capabilities like CSS layouts, animations, filters, and near-compiled performance code. They run faster on devices with less storage and data capacity, and are accessible offline and without internet access due to the application cache feature (similar to native apps).
Businesses can reach a greater audience by providing them with an app-like experience through a PWA instead of having to wait for them to download a separate native app from an app store. They can also avoid costly app store fees and reduce development costs.
Progressive Web Apps can also provide fast page speeds, helping to reduce bounce rates and ensure that hard-won users don’t abandon the digital shopping experience because of long load times. This is especially critical for eCommerce stores and other businesses that need to move their users down the sales funnel.
In fact, some businesses like AliExpress have reported doubled conversion rates after moving to a PWA. Their success story is made possible by their careful mapping of their users’ and customers’ journeys and selecting the best solution to address those needs.
4. Cross-Device
With a PWA, users get a native app experience without the need to download and install an app. This is particularly powerful for businesses with a wide range of customers who may use different devices and operating systems.
Progressive web apps work on any device that has a browser and can access the Internet. They also work offline thanks to service workers that allow them to cache data. And they have fast load times and perform like an app even on low-quality networks.
While many progressive web apps have the potential to replace some native mobile applications, they aren’t ideal for all types of services. For example, some hardware-intensive activities such as video editing aren’t suitable for PWAs.
To create a PWA, you need to serve content over HTTPS to ensure secure data transmission and use a web app manifest file to specify the metadata your progressive web app needs to function on a user’s device. It’s then possible to add it to the home screen via a browser dialog or using the standard ‘Add to home screen’ feature on iOS devices.
5. Security
Progressive Web Apps are transforming the digital landscape as they combine the best aspects of web and mobile applications. With outstanding performance, offline capacity, and cross-device compatibility, they’re becoming a go-to technology for users. However, they’re associated with a number of security risks that need to be addressed. Collaborating with a trusted progressive web application development company will help you mitigate these risks.
PWAs use service workers, which are background scripts that facilitate attributes such as offline capability and caching. They can also enable self-updates, which notify users of available updates and automatically download them for their devices. This improves app reliability and user experience, while simplifying maintenance for developers.
PWAs work like websites in terms of search engine optimization, but they can also be added to the home screen and push notifications can be sent to them. This is a big benefit for businesses that want to boost engagement with their apps and see their conversion rates increase without the need for users to install them from an app store. They can even access a device’s hardware and software (such as the camera or GPS) to deliver a truly native app-like experience.