The online world has transformed tremendously in the last few years. One of the significant advancements that the world has seen is the introduction of apps for almost everything. No matter if you want groceries, clothes, or entertainment, there is an app for each of them. However, apps are also of various types, like web apps, native apps, hybrid apps, and progressive web apps.
Currently, the hype of progressive web apps is on the scale. Businesses are racing towards adopting progressive web application development for their business. But why? Why are brands like Pinterest, Forbes, and BMW adopting PWA for their business? Here is why!
Pinterest increased its customer engagement by 40% and revenue by 44% by building its mobile site as PWA. On the other hand, BMW witnessed a growth of 50% in its mobile users after developing the PWA. There are many other examples like this that will be highlighted in the article. But first, let’s study what a progressive web app is.
What is a Progressive Web App?
To keep it in the simplest words, progressive web apps are websites that offer the same experience as the native mobile app. Basically, they are the website versions of the app. The ability to provide a seamless experience on the website and the app makes a progressive web app an excellent choice for the brands.
Here are some of the features of a progressive web app!
Currently, the hype of progressive web apps is on the scale. Businesses are racing towards adopting progressive web application development for their business. But why? Why are brands like Pinterest, Forbes, and BMW adopting PWA for their business? Here is why!
Pinterest increased its customer engagement by 40% and revenue by 44% by building its mobile site as PWA. On the other hand, BMW witnessed a growth of 50% in its mobile users after developing the PWA. There are many other examples like this that will be highlighted in the article. But first, let’s study what a progressive web app is.
What is a Progressive Web App?
To keep it in the simplest words, progressive web apps are websites that offer the same experience as the native mobile app. Basically, they are the website versions of the app. The ability to provide a seamless experience on the website and the app makes a progressive web app an excellent choice for the brands.
Here are some of the features of a progressive web app!
- Speed and offline access: Compared to traditional websites, progressive web apps are super fast. They respond quickly to user requests with smooth animations and scrolling. On top of that, the progressive web app can work even if the internet connection is weak or not present at all.
Service Workers is the feature that enables offline access. How? Well, the feature stores the results of the users offline as a local cache, and if the internet connection breaks, the results against the requests are fetched from there. It also reduces the amount of data required to run the app.
- Safety: Data safety is an excellent feature of progressive web app development. Just like websites, web apps also use the HTTPS protocol. It encrypts user data and communication, making it impossible for hackers to intercept the information.
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Native phone-like features: PWAs are the best of both worlds. The users can get website-like navigation along with various phone features. Users can leverage the benefit of features like GPS, Camera, and Fingerprint Scanner for an enhanced user experience.
- Discoverability: Unlike native apps, finding a progressive web app is super easy. You can easily search them on Google or any other search engine. In the other case, you would have to go through a long list of apps to get the app for your device.
- Easy updates: This feature is a big plus for publishers as they don’t have to wait for Apple or Google’s acceptance before launching an update. For PWAs, the publishers are just required to upload the new files to the servers. The app automatically updates in the background.
Why are Businesses Inclined Towards Adopting Progressive Web App Development?
Well, there are many reasons that govern a brand’s decision to go for progressive apps alongside mobile web applications. Here are some of them!
Low-cost Development
As developers develop the app, the money required is directly influenced by the expertise required. Unlike native apps, PWAs use a single database for different platforms, and the interface functionality is the same across all versions. Hence, the complexity is less, and so is the cost.
In native app development, various language expertise is required for android and iOS, which raises the complexity and the cost.
Expandable
Just like updates, progressive web apps are easy to expand too. As the website is always functional, one can easily add features step-by-step to it. The best thing about this is that brands don’t have to keep the website down for expansion. It can be easily done simultaneously, and more browsers become compatible with the new updates.
Easy Distribution
One of the key reasons brands like Twitter and Forbes opted for progressive web application development over native app development is the ease of deployment. If we talk about native app development, they are tough to build and tougher to deploy across Apple, Google, and Windows store.
On the other hand, progressive web apps do not include any complex processes. You only have to get a URL and a browser.
User Experience
The app's user experience is of utmost importance, and progressive web apps excel at it. How? Well, we already know that they deliver a native app-like experience to the users. In the case of PWA, users just require a URL for updating the app that they can add to the bookmarks and update the app at their convenience.
In the case of native apps, users have to take up the tedious task of getting the app from the app stores time and again. This takes time and also consumes the memory of the device.
So, these are some of the prime reasons businesses choose progressive web apps. And they are not wrong. PWAs affect various KPIs of the business, such as customer engagement, ad revenue, conversion rate, etc.
What Factors to Keep in Mind Before Creating a Progressive Web App?
If you have decided to get a PWA, it is a wise decision. But here are some things that you need to consider before developing one!
- Responsiveness: Make sure that your app is fit for all device screen sizes. If it does not fulfil this criterion, it may be of no use.
- Progressiveness: Make sure that you only opt for a PWA if you have a long-term goal of improving and upgrading it. A PWA is called a PWA only if it is evolving with time.
- Security: Keep good care of the security aspect of the progressive web app, as multiple users will be interacting with it closely. It needs to be launched with the HTTPS protocol.
Conclusion
So, if you are a business planning to boost conversions and revenue, a progressive web app is the perfect solution. Make sure you keep up with the latest trends and analyze everything necessary before making your final move.
If you need assistance with progressive web application development, you can get in touch with Octos Global. The custom software and mobile app development company can produce top-end progressive web apps for you. If you are interested, call us now!