Progressive Web App - Why You Should Choose It

When building an app, companies have usually three directions they can go with it. They can decide on native, hybrid, or cross-platform mobile app development. Today we focus on the fourth option available which is a progressive web app and why you should choose it.

Most of the online interactions happen on mobile devices. A solution that enables companies to provide users with a good level of mobile experience is a progressive web app.

What is a Progressive Web App?

Think about a website that loads even when there is no network. PWA is a top-class website that behaves just like a native mobile app. It can be installed on your smartphone, send push notifications, and work offline or under a low-speed network.

PWA Features

PWA enables great availability as it offers offline access to all functionalities. Users can access PWA in one click as it can be installed from a website and stored on mobile device hardware. As it's not as heavy as a native app, it enables fast loading and page transitions. PWA is still a website so it offers various website functionalities like dynamic data and database access. PWA allows for instant updates. As PWA is stored on mobile hardware, it can access hardware features such as camera, microphone, geolocation, payments or biometric authentication.

Why you should choose PWA

Developing a site and a native app separately will cost your company much more money when very often PWA is enough. PWA offers the same convenience of use as native mobile apps but the solution is much cheaper to develop, promote, and maintain. Progressive web apps are still websites that are indexable by search engines.

Progressive Web App Examples

Spotify - experienced a 30% increase in monthly active users and a 45% increase in desktop users after creating a PWA version.

Starbucks - gained a 94% increase in app downloads and the number of daily active users doubled after introducing PWA.

Pinterest - experienced a 40% increase in time spent on the platform and a 60% increase in overall user engagement after rebuilding to PWA.