Progressive Web App Development

Why Brands Love PWAs

For several years, leading brands have been adopting PWAs because of the unique benefits provided by this technology:

• Optimal Experience Across Platforms, Devices, and Screens

  There is no need to build separate apps for iOS, Android, Windows, etc - PWA apps are built with a single code base and can adapt to the device and screen by design. This makes PWAs much easier to develop and maintain than native mobile apps.

• Ease of Deployment

  PWAs are not distributed through App Stores, but are published on a web server, just like normal websites. Therefore, any update becomes immediately available to the end user, which virtually eliminates any versioning and backward compatibility issues typical to native mobile apps. App updates can be distributed much more frequently.

• Highly Scalable

  Depending on the customer engagement and traffic, brands can easily modify their PWAs and expand functionalities without the need to create additional APIs (because of a single code base).

• Effective Digital Marketing

  Because of the web-native nature of PWAs, it becomes much easier to promote PWAs - instead of competing with millions of apps on the app stores (which provide only limited optimization strategies), PWAs can be marketed via web organic and paid marketing strategies.

Why Users Love PWAs

• Discoverability

  Users can easily find Progressive Web Apps via search engines and share PWAs by sending a URL.

• Accessibility

  After installation, the user will have a PWA shortcut on the device screen and will be able to open the app with just one click instead of opening a browser.

• App-like Functionality

  Using features like push notifications, brands can keep app users motivated and interested, encouraging them to come back again and again.

• Automatic Updates

  Since publishers can deploy patches and updates very quickly, users always have the most optimized and stable version of the app.

• Reduced Size and Load Times

  PWAs are much smaller than native apps, which makes them faster to load and lighter (sometimes they weigh even less than one megabyte).

• The Capability of Offline Work

  High loading speed isn’t the last advantage of PWAs - even if the user is out of the network’s range, the app will continue to work offline.

Still, PWA Development Is Not a “Silver Bullet”

Despite all the advantages, PWAs also have some cons, which you need to
know before you decide to develop a PWA.

• Limited Browser & Software Support

  PWA is a relatively new concept, so not all device hardware and software support these apps yet. For example, the Safari browser supports the PWA technology only to a limited extent.

• Still Not All Native Features Are Available

  Not all technical options, such as Bluetooth or Near Field Communication (NFC), can yet be applied to PWAs as opposed to native apps. For the same reason, brands may have limited access to certain user data.

• High Battery Usage

  PWAs consume more battery compared to native apps because they are written in high-level web code, so phones have to work harder to interpret the code. Users who notice a drain in their battery power are more unlikely to use this kind of app if they need to prolong their battery life.

• No Access to App Stores

  Although millions of people use search engines, brands that have PWAs can still miss out on some parts of their potential audiences - for example, those users who are looking for applications via Google Play or App Store.