Businesses today face a challenge when it comes to trying to reach their consumers, particularly when trying to choose between investing in developing native mobile apps and maintaining them or sticking with a mobile-friendly website. Enter the progressive web app or PWA. Before Progressive web apps were developed, a majority of businesses required a native iOS app, a native Android app, and a conventional website to gain optimal online reach.
A progressive web app is a consolidation of a mobile-friendly app and website. Gartner predicts that by 2019, 20% of brands will abandon their mobile apps for PWAs. PWA offers users the friendly interface of a mobile app at approximately half of what it would cost you to build a native iOS or Android app. They are responsive to every device and thy function and feel like any app you would get from the Apple store or Google Play Store. One of the primary features of a Progressive web app is that even though it feels like an app, there is no need to search and download it. Users can discover PWAs, link to them, or share them on the web and they can also install them on their devices to use as native apps. Dan Frommer, summarizing the Quartz report, said; “Only about one-third of smartphone owners download any apps in an average month, with the bulk of those downloading one to three apps.’
Users generally expect a site to load within 2 seconds and may abandon your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. With users abandoning mobile sites that take too long to load, PWAs are a worthy option for businesses.
What are the benefits of Progressive web apps?
– Progressive – Work for every user, regardless of browser choice because they’re built with progressive enhancement as a core tenet.
– Responsive – Fit any form factor: desktop, mobile, tablet, or forms yet to emerge.
– Connectivity independent – Service workers allow work offline, or on low quality networks.
– App-like – Feel like an app to the user with app-style interactions and navigation.
– Fresh – Always up-to-date thanks to the service worker update process.
– Safe – Served via HTTPS to prevent snooping and ensure content hasn’t been tampered with.
– Discoverable – Are identifiable as “applications” thanks to W3C manifests5 and service worker registration scope allowing search engines to find them.
– Re-engageable – Make re-engagement easy through features like push notifications.
– Installable – Allow users to “keep” apps they find most useful on their home screen without the hassle of an app store.
– Linkable – Easily shared via a URL and do not require installation.
Why your business really need to build progressive web apps?
Native is not going anywhere soon. Don’t worry. They have their seatbelt quite tightened. However, we are going to witness a massive rise in progressive app development. Mainly the domains like e-commerce, media, and restaurants can garner more profits and captivate more audience. All because –
– Progressive app development will cost you much less compared to native apps
– They provide an app-like experience even when you run it in the browser
– They are built on cross-platform so you save time on adapting your service
– Since backed by Google, so the growth and approach will be refined and fast
Get a Head Start and Build Your Progressive Web App Now!
Dozens of major brands are moving from native apps to PWAs, and it’s easy to see why. Both mobile sites and native apps offer advantages and disadvantages, and PWAs are proving to be the best of both worlds for businesses. Bigger and better things await as this technology continues to develop.
