Progressive Web App (PWA)
A Progressive Web App lets you install an application from the browser itself. It’s available on your phone as a native application and works offline as a native application.
I am pretty sure most of us have seen Progressive Web Apps in our daily life, can’t remember ??
Have you ever came through the websites that, while browsing, asks “Add to home screen banner” and if you click yes, it saves an icon to your smart phone’s home screen. That exactly is the PWA! If you haven’t come across, try to use Instagram through your mobile browser.
PWA provides the same experience as a native application and the best part is that you are able to browse through the app even when you are not connected to the internet (of course, you won’t be able to get new feeds).
But what exactly a Progressive Web App is?
Let’s get more into it. PWA was coined by Alex Russel and Frances Berriman. It can be said as "Some great things from Native application and something from the web."
Progressive Web App is not a framework or a technology, it's just a set of rules and practices that make a web application run similar to a native application. They are quick and fast and support almost all the browsers.
PWAs even work in app stores. Microsoft recently announced that along with native Windows apps, you can find Progressive Web Apps in the store. We can install these apps to get a feel for the native applications.
However, why do we need that when we have native applications?
Let’s have a look on the challenges we face today with native and web apps.
- Internet Speed
Majority of the world’s population uses a slow internet speed or use a 2G connection.
- Loading time for a website
On an average, it takes around 16 secs for a website to load (when using a slow connectivity).
- User engagement
Users spend most of the time using their native application and only some of those use the mobile web to browse.
Have you ever faced challenges like below?
- I don’t have enough space
- My available data is not sufficient
- Is this app worth downloading
All of them can be resolved through Progressive Web Apps. In short, Progressive Web Apps combine everything about a native application and everything that great in the web.
Benefits of PWA
- Cost Effective
A huge cost of development can be saved using progressive applications rather than investing in developing native applications.
- PWAs are cross platform
PWAs are not restricted to specific platforms; you do not need to develop separate variants for different platforms.