What are Progressive Web Apps & its Benefits

A progressive web application is essentially a website which appears and works in an identical manner as a mobile application. You can easily add it to your smartphone’s main screen, send out push notifications, use the device’s hardware, and work offline as well. The appealing aspect of Progressive Web Apps is that it functions seamlessly in an unstable connection or even without a network because it comes with full Internet access.

It is found that the concern with developing a traditional app is they may come at a high cost and frequently utilize a large amount of data and storage on the users’ device. Due to this, the popularity of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) is high. There are many surprising benefits of PWA, let’s have a look at them:

Easy to implement:

If you already use a web app and when you capitalize 10-15% additional front-end coding resources, it is certain that you can have a Progressive Web App to use. For its use, there is no necessity to modify your framework or incorporate new technologies due to the fact that the PWA is developed with the help of JavaScript, a standard front-end language.

The expert JavaScript developers are enough to develop PWA and there is no need for any extra resources or technologies. When viewed from the user side, it is certain that there is no requirement to install a PWA directly from the App Store or Play Store. As an alternative, when you initially begin using a PWA, it would compel you to pin the particular app to your home screen. If you do this, the app gets pinned next to your native mobile apps. It also implies that you can stay away from the review procedure adopted by the Play Store or App Store, which allows the let your app go live speedily.

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Enhanced performance:

Progressive web apps are known to provide enhanced performance because they function notably faster. The fat speed is because of the way the core technology caches as well as serves text, images, stylesheets, and some other content on the websites. This facilitates enhanced performance in terms of user experience, conversation, and retention rates.

No need for app store submission:

It is important to know that PWA needs not to get published on Windows Phone Apps, Google Play, or Apple’s App Store. The apps carry out less time-consuming actions. Moreover, developers can also direct new updates without having to wait for approvals. This allows for regular updates on a level which is not currently feasible with conventional mobile apps. Every update get automatically downloaded as well as updated whenever users go for relaunching the app.

Zero installation hassles:

As compared to traditional mobile applications, whenever users go for installing PWA’s, it is found that there are no extended download times, and also visitors are not directed to the App Store or Google Play Store. You can directly download this app on your device. The aspect suggests that the PWA possesses its own icon on tablets and smartphones, similar to a mobile application. There is no need to pass through the boring and sluggish App Store submission process.

Quick and easy automatic updating:

With a purpose to allow publishing each and every version of any native app into app stores, you need to pass through the lengthy process of reviews as well as checks. On the other hand, updating a PWA is a stress-free and quick process. All you need to do is code, mobile testing, and then finally go live.

In addition to that, whenever you incorporate a new utility or any new piece of content into your PWA, post indexation, the users see it instantly and they are familiar of the alterations, without any attempts from their side. Therefore, you can constantly enhance your web product as well as you can update it with simplicity, as and when you require it. Also, your users would not get annoyed by the download requests and install newly launched versions; this is excellent for UX.

Capability to work offline:

During the instant of weak or no Internet connection, a common website would not load and users could not observe it. On the other hand, PWA is not restricted and is competent to work offline due to the use of cached data from earlier online activities. For instance, you own an online store and customers could continuously look through your product pages even when the Internet gets disconnected. This is possible in PWA. Working in an offline node enhances customer retention as well as engagement, by allowing users stay on your web resource for a longer time and make use of it even when there is an absence of Internet access.

No updates needed:

The native apps installed by most users on their device usually update automatically and frequently needs a manual update to be done or it may even need a Wi-Fi connection. Working on to update apps in absence of Wi-Fi can incur large data consumption and this raises the cost to the user. To understand this, for instance, an update for the social media app- Facebook could be of 200 MB which if users do not uses Wi-Fi, seems a huge chunk of monthly data allowance of the user.

There are no such issues found in PWAs. They are basically identical to websites and the update takes place ‘on-use’ similar to the manner a website is updated. You may see the update whenever you load the PWA and the same need not to be updated into the background or prior to the launching like a native app. This also implies that PWAs can be quickly updated and also there is no need to get App or Play Store approval needed. Therefore, any crucial concerns can be resolved in less time.

Comes at a cheap cost:

For companies, it is known that the cost of developing a PWA is comparatively cheaper than a native app development. A business which requires a native app would need that particular app to get developed for Android as well as iOS devices, which are available on the majority of smartphone devices. For businesses or start-ups that are keen to perceive a noteworthy ROI on their native app, it could be extremely costly.

It is found that PWAs are cheaper to produce without compromising the functionality. Therefore, PWAs offer a feasible option to businesses to generate a positive ROI. The development cost is less than half as compared to that on Android and iOS app.

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PWAs are excellent for SEO:

The benefits of PWAs are not only limited to the storage, low data, and cost but they can even enhance the accessibility as well as searchability of your app.  PWAs load quickly and for instance, Uber’s PWA demands less than two seconds of time to load. Moreover, this has shown influence on search engine rankings because quick loading sites obtain a ranking boost. The appealing aspect is that your PWA would be indexed rapidly and it offers an excellent a great user experience. All these aspects supplements to the achievement of your SEO strategies. The fact is that you can execute PWAs into your online marketing plan. It is known that Search Engine Land comes with a guide for PWA as well as their influence on SEO. It also comes with useful guidelines for boosting the visibility of your PWA online.

Exclusive hardware features:

Another benefit of PWAs is the implementation of useful features, like push notifications. Developers and publishers own complete control over ways in which you implement this option, which allows the perception of creative solutions, in respect to advertising new content. For the e-commerce sites, the aspect suggests a new entry channel for sales, because push notifications which are instantly shown on phones are read frequently than status updates on social media, other notifications, e-mail newsletters, etc.

Serves an app-like way: 

The PWAs are developed identical to mobile apps while continuing to provide the comprehensive functionality of websites possessing dynamic data as well as database access. Each and every developer opts for how broadly to program PWAs. Majority of them seek the benefit from the prevailing frameworks as well as conventional theory available on how mobile apps sever excellent user experiences compared to websites.

The aspect that lets PWAs to stand unique from the native apps is that you can avail an access to them with the help of URLs. So, they are indexable by search engines. The plus point is that businesses could get significant benefits from doing it.

What is the Future of Progressive Web Apps?

The future of PWAs is filled with lots of opportunities. It is common that Firefox and Chrome are the finest mobile browsers to fully experience the power of PWAs. The iOS 11.3 has presented Safari into the mix whenever the matter comes to PWA. It is found that stick which was frequently used to compete PWAs i.e. the utility on iOS was not as dependable as Android, is now gone.

Concluding Note:

Presently, many companies are exploring the concept of using Progressive Web Apps. The businesses and startups which do not have a native app, it is a good opportunity for you to use Progressive Web Apps and enhance the manner in which customers communicate with your company.

Finally, consider getting in touch with web development company in India to develop progressive web apps for you.

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