What are Progressive Web Apps and Why It Should Matter To Your Business

When one aspect of technology evolves, everything associated with it evolves as well. Ten or fifteen years ago, the way we accessed the internet and consumed information was very different from how we do today.

It was the age of dial-up connections, where mobile broadband connections were just starting to become a household term. Smartphones were expensive. People had a regular handset and a GPRS connection was the only source of mobile internet.

But the scenario today is completely different. We have an array of handheld devices like netbooks, smartphones, tablets and even smartwatches that replicate a few features of a smartphone. The Internet has had a massive reach among masses and there are cities with tons of Wi-Fi hotspots for uninterrupted internet connection.

With these advancements, developers had to ensure other aspects of web usage and interactions evolved as well. That has been one of the reasons for the onset of Progressive Web Applications (PWAs).

While most of us have access to a superfast internet connection, there are still places where connectivity is just booming. To offer inclusivity to users, the concept of progressive web applications had to be conceived, developed and pushed in the market.

True to the tech’s name, they are indeed progressive as they combine the benefits and functionalities of both web applications and mobile apps. They are a hybrid class of applications that offer an edge over native mobile applications.

If you’ve ever used the mobile versions of websites like Facebook, Twitter or Amazon, you would have already experienced what progressive web applications are. They give the look and feel of an app and function with the weight and potential of websites.

To give us experience as smooth as that of a native app, progressive web app developers have to ensure the technicalities are solid under the hood. A progressive web application runs on the following for seamless user experience:

• A HTTPS network
• Service workers
• App shell architecture
• A manifest file

For the uninitiated, service workers are scripts that browsers run in addition to a web page. These function at the background to run features that do not need user interaction or a web page. Operations like push notifications and background sync are two of the best examples of this.

From the time the internet became more accessible to until recently, one of the major types of websites developed was a static website. It served the purpose of offering information about a product or a service without being dramatic. This, of course, was also due to limitations like connectivity speeds,range of available devices and more.

However, as technology evolved, developers realised the increasing computing potential of devices and ways to deliver information in a more interesting way. They understood users were getting bored with static websites and that the reach of smartphones and native apps were also increasingly simultaneously.

So, in the year 2015, an idea was proposed to bridge the differences between native mobile applications and web applications. In the end, it was users who had to benefit from technology and progressive web applications were built solely for that purpose.

Alex Russell, an engineer for Google Chrome, and Francis Berriman, a designer, worked together and came up

with the term we call progressive web applications to combine the functionalities of both. With Google’s consistent efforts to promote progressive web apps for its Android platform, companies started witnessing a significant increase in the way users interacted and engaged with their websites, eventually increasing their RoI as well.

One of the major advantages of PWAs is that they are cross platform. This means that unlike native mobile app development, PWAs do not have limitations in terms of the operating system they are supposed to work on.

For instance, you cannot install a native mobile app developed for iOS on your Android device and vice versa. Further, some of the interesting applications you intend to get hands on with on your iOS device wouldn’t be available on the Android app store or the other way around.

Limitations like these are hindrances to customer experience and brand recall value. Progressive web applications, however, have the unrestricted ability to operate seamlessly regardless of the operating system. Not just operating systems but browsers as well.

Responsive is when a website offers the same visual experience when you access it from your desktop, laptop, smartphone or a tablet. This is a key feature of progressive web applications for the same reason that users do not experience any difference in the way they view and experience websites or services from any of their devices.

Website abandonment is one major concern plaguing several companies. Technically referred to as bounce rates, website abandonment happens when a website fails to load within three seconds. Despite the website being technically solid at the backend to support multiple scripts for user experience, they are more likely to lose customers or visitors with no fault of their own.

Credits to poor internet connectivity.

That’s why progressive web applications are a blessing to businesses as they allow users to access these websites even under the speeds offered by 2G connections. With these apps, a poor internet connection cannot deter a user from interacting with a website and experiencing every single visual element it has to offer.

Now this is possible because the app data is cached beforehand. Thanks to the service workers in action.

Native app development comes with a few limitations that progressive web apps tackle easily. For instance, native apps need to be consistently updated. Apart from the file size of downloads and installations, users need to constantly have free space for the functioning of apps. This becomes a hurdle when businesses keep pushing apps with loaded features and functionalities. Also, data consumption is another challenge by itself.

Contrarily, progressive web applications shatter all of these conventions. One simple example is Pinterest, whose file size on app store is 16 MB before installation whereas the progressive web application version of it is just 205 KB.

Without getting too technical, progressive web application development requires the following:

Referred to as event-driven workers, service workers (like we saw) run under the hood. They act as proxies between applications and networks, intercepting network requests and caching information. Besides, they are also used to save data which can be loaded offline.

Progressive web applications need to be served over a secure internet connection. For this, your website needs an SSL certificate, which can be easily obtained through LetsEncrypt or Cloudflare. By running over an HTTPS connection, you establish trust among your visitors about your brand and simultaneously preventing attacks.

Icon allows you to develop an icon that visually lets users know that they could add the app to their home screen. This tool offers you options to generate icons across multiple formats.

In simple words, it controls what you see when you launch a progressive web application from your launch screen. This includes elements like URL, colour themes, splash screens and more.

Drawing results from case studies conducted by Google, researches revealed that progressive web apps:

• Have increased mobile traffic of businesses by 68%
• Increase load time by 15x
• Boosted conversions by 52% and engagement by 137%
• And reduced bounce rates by 43%

If you are a business owner, these numbers should fascinate you because they are everything part of your marketing goals. Developing a progressive web application today is inevitable and these numbers support this fact. For business growth, brand recall value, customer experience and operational benchmarks, your business needs a progressive web app more than ever.

So, if you intend to make a custom progressive web app, we recommend you get in touch with us. We are a leading Progressive web app development company in USA and with our developers, you would get what would take your company to where it deserves. Get in touch today.