Exploring the Rise of PWA Mobile Experience in the Mobile Industry

For years, developers and people within the mobile app industry have had a great debate. It’s the ultimate question in development technology.

Which is better? Mobile web experience or mobile applications?

Here’s my answer. Mobile applications are better. But with that said, now we’ve got a new trend that utilizes the technology of both mobile web browsing and mobile applications.

It’s called a progressive web app, or PWA for short.

Taking advantage of a progressive web app will help enhance the user experience, which is why this technology is the next big thing in the mobile industry.

But since this technology is so new, lots of people have questions about how it works. Some of you may have heard of progressive web apps, but you’re unsure if it’s best for your situation.

Fortunately, I’m here to help you out. As an expert in the technology and mobile app industries, I can explain what you need to know about PWAs.

We’ll also talk about why they are becoming so popular as of the last few years. Here’s what you need to know.

What is a progressive web app?

Alright. Let’s start off with the basics. What exactly is a progressive web app?

In short, a PWA brings design elements along with other technology and features that are typically associated with native apps to a mobile browser. So it feels like an app, but it’s run within a browser.

The reason why this technology is so great is because it allows users who are browsing your mobile website to enjoy an experience as though they were using an app.

I said earlier, this is a somewhat new concept. The term progressive web app wasn’t officially named until 2015. There are certain characteristics that all progressive web apps have in common.

For starters, they need to be progressive, hence the name. This means that it will work for any user, no matter what type of device or platform that they’re using.

PWAs are responsive. So they can fit all forms, such as mobile devices, tablets, or desktops. They work connectivity independent, meaning that the service workers can operate offline or even on networks with a poor quality connection. We’ll discuss this concept in greater detail later.

Progressive web apps look and feel like native mobile applications. This includes all of the navigation and interactions as well.

PWAs are also safe to use. That’s because they are provided with HTTPS connections that ensure the content hasn’t been modified or breached.

Due to the W3C manifest, PWAs are identified as applications. So they are also discoverable because the service worker uses search engines to find them.

Similar to a native app, progressive web apps are also re-engageable, which is great news for you. That’s because you can contact users through methods such as push notifications.

A PWA is installable so that users can keep apps on their home screens. It’s also easy to share progressive web apps because they are linkable. Users can share these with friends by sending a URL.

Since it’s so easy for these apps to get installed on the home screen of whoever is browsing, there’s no need for someone to go to the app store to download anything. They also won’t have to buy anything.

Progressive web apps offer a full screen browsing experience.

Benefits of progressive web apps

Now that you know exactly what is defined as a progressive web app, let’s talk about how they can benefit your company.

Feature	PWA	Native App
Offline Functionality	Yes	Yes
Push Notifications	Yes	Yes
Mobile-Specific Navigation	Yes	Yes
Home Screen Access	Yes	Yes
App Store Download Required	No	Yes
Discoverability	Web Browsers	App Store

As you can see, there are some features and benefits that these two types of technology have in common.

Both of them can function offline, send push notifications, have mobile-specific navigation, and are accessible through home screens.

But PWAs don’t require downloads and can be discovered without going through the app marketplace. That’s a huge benefit for several reasons. First of all, you won’t have to worry about going through an app approval process.

Second, users can discover you through web browsers as opposed to being limited to app store discovery. So you can benefit from a greater reach.

Progressive web apps are fast and easy for users to install. They don’t take up lots of space on devices and don’t use nearly as much data as native apps.

With that said, they still work, look, and feel the same way as a native app from the user’s perspective. Ultimately, this enhances the user experience.

That’s because the navigation of a PWA offers an instant response to commands. There isn’t any lagging or problems scrolling, which users may experience on a traditional mobile website.

The network connection isn’t a concern. As I previously stated, they can work offline and in situations where the connectivity is poor.

In addition to PWAs being able to work on all devices, it also doesn’t matter which operating system the user has. They work on both Apple and Android devices.

So you don’t have to have the debate about what to build for first, Apple or Android.

Users won’t have to visit the Apple App Store or have an active Google Play account to use your PWA. They don’t need to provide their email address, credit card, or anything else either.

All of this makes things extremely easy for the user because there are no barriers between you and their experience interacting with the PWA.

Here’s an example of how a PWA can benefit your business. In April 2017, Twitter launched a progressive web app called Twitter Lite.

Users could get the same experience as a native app, without having to access the app store.

The results of this launch were astonishing. There was a 75% increase in Tweets sent from the PWA. Furthermore, bounces decreased by 20% and there was a 65% increase in pages per session.

They weren’t the only company to have a monster success with their PWA. MakeMyTrip tripled their conversion rates, improved page loading times by 38%, and saw a 160% increase in their shopper sessions after launching a progressive web app.

Still not convinced that PWAs are beneficial? I’ll give you one more example for good measure.

Alibaba is a global ecommerce store based in China. They are the largest online trading platform for B2B companies in the world, operating in more than 200 countries.

After releasing a progressive web application, Alibaba saw a whopping 76% increase in conversions. They also had a four times higher interaction rate from the add to home screen function.

HTML CHUNK 3 of 3 (is last: True):
ose JS-scripts cause slower loading times.

But accelerated mobile pages are much lighter, so the user experience is drastically improved.

Using Push APIs means that your PWA can get messages right away from the server. It doesn’t matter if the app is loaded by the user or running at the back end.

So new content is always updated and refreshed on the user’s side.

Understanding the service worker API

Let’s dive a little bit deeper into the technical specifications of your progressive web app.

The service worker API is the core of your PWA. It’s event-driven and can handle so many different processes that need to be run. It keeps detailed cache resources.

Resource requests and navigation get intercepted and modified by the service worker API. So it monitors the page and website in the form of a JS-file.

You’ve got complete control over how the application behaves. That’s because the app operates separately from the main JS.

This prevents any block issues because there isn’t any access to the DOM (document object model). The service worker API operates on HTTPS so it’s completely secure.

It works any time a new event occurs, depending on much work is required in order to process specific events.

Here’s a nice visual that displays the role of the service worker in t

The service worker is also asynchronous, which means you won’t have to use localStorage, XHR, or other synchronous APIs.

Like progressive web apps, the service worker API is still new. It’s going to continue to grow and become even more functional that it is today.

Future-proof Technology

No matter what happens in mobile app technology, PWAs will always be the cutting edge. As the web and apps converge, the only safe place to be is with a PWA.

The history of this convergence is easy to find. When mobile devices were introduced, they were completely separate from desktop and laptops.

Gradually, however, these two “different” technologies have grown closer and blended together.

Technology	Characteristics
Mobile Devices	Initially separate from desktops and laptops
Current Trend	Blending of mobile and desktop technologies

With tablets that double as laptops, smartphones the size of tablets, and design standards that allow developers to create websites that fit any size screen, the future will be one of blurry lines between technology.

The same applies to the world of native apps. In the battle between native apps and web apps, the winner is quickly becoming–both.

Rather than constantly rebuilding your app from scratch with each new version of software that’s released, you can save time with a PWA. It’s the only app that can be quickly adapted to fit the constantly changing world of mobile development.

Is a PWA right for you?

Now that we’ve outlined everything you need to know about PWAs, it’s time for you to make a decision. Should you be taking advantage of this technology?

Ultimately, the decision is yours. As you can see from everything that we’ve discussed, there are tons of benefits for using a progressive web app. But with that said, nothing is perfect.

There are some factors that you need to take into consideration during this decision making process. Yes, there are lots of companies who have had success after implementing a progressive web app.

However, this technology is still very new. There will always be risks associated with new technology that hasn’t been proven throughout time.

Although it’s been used, it’s still in the early stages.

Also, PWAs are not supported by all web browsers, like Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft. However, progressive web apps are still trending upward, so I think it will be easy to overcome these hurdles in the future.

Conclusion

Progressive web apps are the next big thing.

They combine the technology of mobile web browsing with the features and benefits of a native app to improve the user experience.

As you can see from what we discussed, there are so many benefits of implementing a PWA. Just refer back to those companies who had so much success after launching one.

Progressive web apps increase user engagement and lead to more conversions.

They’re very easy to maintain on your end as well.

So is a PWA right for you? That decision is yours. But regardless of what you decide, you need to recognize that this new technology is very relevant to the future of app development.

Is your company ready to move forward and jump on the progressive web app trend?

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a Progressive Web App (PWA)? A PWA is a type of application software delivered through the web, built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• How does a PWA differ from a native app? PWAs are accessed via a web browser and do not require installation from an app store, unlike native apps.
• What are the benefits of using a PWA? PWAs offer benefits such as offline access, push notifications, and faster load times.
• Are PWAs supported on all browsers? Not all browsers fully support PWAs; for example, Safari has limited support.
• Can a PWA be added to a home screen? Yes, users can add a PWA to their device’s home screen for easy access.