In a world where mobile device use grows day by day, every startup owner sees not having a mobile app as a big problem. Because of the high cost, they can't build one, and so the product reaches a smaller audience. This is exactly where Progressive Web Apps (PWA) come in. PWA, a new technology, has been in wide use for 2 years now. New companies that understand its advantages build their websites as PWAs instead of mobile apps, so the sites look like mobile apps on every phone and tablet and feel like apps to the user. Let's take a closer look at this new technology together.
What are Progressive Web Apps (PWA)?
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) is a technology, written with special code, that lets websites be used like mobile apps, even offline. All a user needs is an up-to-date browser on their device. It asks nothing else of the user, and it costs the maker less too. Looking at these points, a PWA seems more sensible than building a mobile app. Not for everyone, but for most.
What are the advantages of Progressive Web Apps (PWA)?
- No installation needed – It runs in the browser, so nothing extra has to be downloaded.
- Flexible – It runs on every platform: desktop, mobile, tablet and even every browser-capable device made in the future.
- Internet speed matters less – It keeps files in local storage, so it works on a slow connection too.
- Feels like a mobile app – Again because it keeps files locally, it's fast, and because it's built for every screen, it looks no worse than a mobile app.
- Updates quickly – With “service worker” technology it can be updated constantly and quickly.
- Secure – It only works over HTTPS, to prevent interference by others.
- Easy to index – Because it follows W3C standards, search engines can index all its pages directly.
- Allows integrations – By integrating a notification system or other services, it can be built with full mobile app functionality.
- Added to the home screen – With the user's permission it's added to the home screen without any download, and the PWA opens directly, without going into the browser.
- Shareable – It can be shared as a URL in one click, without any complicated steps.
Will Progressive Web Apps (PWA) become the new standard in the mobile world?
Every year Google invests heavily in new technologies to build a better search on mobile and the web, and Progressive Web Apps (PWA) is one of them. The main goal of a PWA is to give the user a fast, safe and engaging experience in the mobile browser. Alex Russell, an engineer at Google, describes it this way: PWAs blur the line between the web and mobile apps while keeping the strengths of the web.
A PWA is designed to load content “instantly”. It does this by passing the browser's requests through a script known as a “service worker”. A PWA can also track user behaviour and so show each user content that matches their interests.
A PWA keeps all of a website's data in the device's memory and shows it inside an app shell (a frame that works like a mobile app). That gives it a big advantage in speed.
Based on all this, it's fair to say that PWA, a new technology, will be very widely used in a few years, if not now. You can see it in how much big companies are investing in this area. But you'll still make the right decision for your own project yourself. In the coming days I'll present a platform I've built with this technology. A real example will make the decision even easier.
