Progressive Web Apps — The Next Step in Web App Development

What is a progressive web application?

It is commonly called PWA in short. As the name implies a progressive web application is also a web application, the only difference is a progressive web application uses modern browser APIs and capabilities to behave like a desktop or a native mobile app. In short, a progressive web application has the best of both worlds — the web app world and the native app world.

What makes a web app a progressive web app?

Well, although a progressive web app is a web application, it behaves like a desktop or a native mobile application. So, for a web app to be a progressive web app, it must have the following capabilities.

• Load instantly like a native mobile app independent of network or internet speed.
• Capable of working offline. Just like a native app even when there is no internet connectivity and offline.
• The app should load, start and all those features that don’t require a network connection must continue to work.
• Support for push notifications. Just like a native mobile or desktop app should be able to receive push notifications from a backend server even while the user isn’t using the app.
• Automatic self-updates. When an update is available the application should be able to automatically update in the background. The update shouldn’t fail even if the connection to the server is poor or broken, the app should be able to update itself when the connection is restored. App launch options.

Why is it called a progressive web application?

Well, just like any other web application, an end-user might first discover and use your application within a web browser, later the user progresses to installing it on their device and starts using the features like push notifications, launching the app by using its icon instead of manually typing the web address in the browser, self-updates, etc. Hence the term progressive web app.

Now, when you intend to develop a new application, one of the first questions that come to your mind is ‘what type of app you want to build’?

Native app, Web app, Hybrid app, or a Progressive web app

Well, let’s quickly compare the pros and cons of each type of app.

Native app- as the name implies a native app is native to a given platform. For example, to develop native iOS apps, we use Swift or Objective-C. Similarly Java for Android apps and Dot Net for Windows Phone apps.

• Native apps have several benefits. They offer the fastest, most reliable, and responsive experience to users. It is also very easy to access device hardware like a camera and microphone for example.
• The user interface and user experience of a native app can be easily matched to the underlying platform conventions which obviously makes your users feel at home.

The main disadvantage of a native app is, it is native to the platform for which it is built, meaning an Android app will not run on iOS and vice versa...

A web app — is usually quicker and easier to build. We access and use a web app using a web browser. This means it can be accessed and used on any device and any operating system that has a web browser.

• However, if your web app is non-responsive, you may or may not have the same user experience on different devices and browsers. You may not be able to use it at all on some devices.
• web apps don’t have the same rich functionality as native apps, for example, push notifications, being able to run in its own app window, rich user experience, etc.

A hybrid app — is basically a web app that is wrapped with a native shell and then compiled into native iOS, Android, or other mobile platforms. For building hybrid apps, there are many technologies like PhoneGap, React Native, Ionic, etc.

• A hybrid app. We have one codebase which is tweaked a bit to support both web and mobile platforms. Since there is only one code base to manage, the cost is substantially less than a native app for each platform.
• However, hybrid app development can get extremely complex especially if you want to take advantage of the unique capabilities of different platforms like iOS and Android for example. Also, the user interface of a hybrid app doesn’t have the same rich experience, look and feel of a native app.

Finally, Progressive Web App — Until progressive web apps came into existence, web apps lacked the functionality of native apps like the ability to send push notifications, work offline, etc.

• A progressive web app works in a web browser. It also works on all mobile platforms as a standalone app just like any other native app. It also works as an application in its own window outside of a web browser on a desktop computer. For example on a windows desktop just like how Notepad or Microsoft Paint run in their own windows, a progressive web app can also run in its own window outside of a web browser.
• A progressive web app can run on any device that supports the web, be it smart TVs, wearable technologies like smartwatches, game consoles, tablets, etc. All this is possible with just one codebase. With a progressive web app, we want to take the best of both worlds — web apps and native apps. For example, the following are some of the features we want from web apps. Use existing themes and skillsets.

Final Words:-

Building a progressive web application is not that different from building a standard web application. We use the same standards and tools — HTML, CSS, and frameworks like Angular, React, Blazor, etc. So, there is no need to look for additional specialized developers or acquire new skills.

Progressive web development is evolving and expanding its horizon. From automated web interfaces to the development of mission-critical applications, dreams are being brought to reality by web app development. Web development is evolving and expanding its horizon. From automated web interfaces to the development of mission-critical applications, dreams are being brought to reality by our progressive web app development service.

Want to discuss how to start your journey? To know more get in touch with us: sales@codestoresolutions.com.