Progressive Web Apps have emerged as a booming change in the world of the applications. As we approach the future, we can expect that the popularity of progressive apps might lead to the reduction of the popularity of mobile applications on our smartphones. Web development companies are working towards exploring progressive web applications while providing other web development services. But before we go any further let’s discuss what are progressive apps actually?

What are Progressive Web Apps?

Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) are new kind of web applications which allows users to view them as native mobile applications through a browser. The idea of creating PWAs derives from the fact that the user should be provided with a mobile experience by combining the features of native mobile apps and web apps.

PWAs merge the functionalities of native mobile apps with web availability. This is achieved by making use of the latest features of website and browsers for exceptional user experience. Another attractive feature of PWAs is that it can function even if the operating device is in an offline mode. They use modern features of the web such as cache, secure connections and push notifications in order to provide the user with best web experiences.

Growing companies often set their goals so as to provide access to their users at all time along with eliminating costs involved in the process of app development and promotion. PWAs allows companies to do that as they provide an excellent solution that benefits the companies by increasing revenues. PWAs utilize the latest features of modern technology and over the years, it is expected that these will be used by companies for their mobile strategies.

How PWAs Differ From Traditional Mobile Apps

The major point of difference between the native apps and PWAs os that creating native apps requires consistency with only one single platform which can be either Android, iOS or Windows. Native applications make use of the developer tools that are given by the operating system of the platform and thus, access its functionalities.

On the other hand, PWAs are developed and coded on a web browser but they can be installed on any phone by pinning the app page. The behavior and functionality of PWAs are similar to native apps but in this case, the hardware is not responsible for controlling the applications. Let’s dig in a little deeper and find out the difference between PWAs and Native mobile applications.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

Mobile phones can be held as the most responsible factor for closing the gap between the interaction of technology and humans. We spend a larger chunk of our time on our smartphones shuffling from one application to the other.

However, when we need to address any specific information or find an answer to our queries, we search on our web browsers. Progressive mobile applications allow us to save our time and do both these tasks, searching and browsing, by providing immediate access to a website through an application like experience.

Advantages:

Progressive web applications provide an efficient solution to cover the disadvantages of mobile native apps. Meaning that, while the native apps have a dependency on the devices hardware and operating system, PWAs can work universally i.e. they do not need different versions for different devices and operating systems. Due to this, PWAs are more efficient in terms of costs and development time.

A single progressive web application can work on an Android device as well as iOS and Windows device too. They also do not require to be run on any app marketplace such as app store or Google play instead, a user can simply click the link once in order to access the application.

Disadvantages:

The performance of progressive web applications is considered as a major drawback when compared to native mobile apps. Native apps are much more efficient and faster than PWAs, They also perform better with in-depth features as they are directly installed on your mobile devices. Moreover, native applications are open to a broad range of functionalities and therefore, can provide better performance.

Native applications can also access Bluetooth and other internal functions of your mobile device as opposed to a PWA. Another disadvantage with PWAs is that they drain more battery power as compared to native ones.

Native Apps

When you go and search for any application on your mobile device’s play store or app store, you’re looking for a native app. Custom web development companies create native applications especially for mobile devices and these apps are specific to function with the device’s operating system. Any application that you can download and use on your smartphone is considered as a native mobile application.

Advantages:

Native applications are exceptional when it comes to their performance as they provide faster loading times. Moreover, as these apps are specifically developed for mobile devices, they have access to different functions of mobile devices such as Bluetooth. They are designed and developed in such a manner that can provide more robust features and high performance for better user experience.

As native applications are developed while keeping in mind the needs of a customer, they are made highly feature-rich and can produce higher engagement for customer mobile experience.

Disadvantages:

The biggest disadvantage of a native application is that they are built differently for different mobile or OS platforms according to the specific programming language. This increases the development costs of the app for the web development firm as it has a separate Android version, iOS version, and Windows version as well. As the number of versions increase, the cost and development time also increases.

Conclusion

If you’re considering a simple application for your business that has efficient features and functionalities with low costs, PWA is a good option for you. Branded apps that focus on delivering targeted content to their users prefer PWAs as these apps can enhance the content marketing strategy of the company with the need for little performance.

Progressive web applications provide users with best web experiences. The combined approach of using features of web applications and mobile native applications allow them to be more useful for businesses by covering the customer engagement opportunities that are often missed by native mobile applications. Modern web development companies the provide best-in-class web development services are working towards getting PWAs developed by their web developers as per the high demands of users.

The field of custom web development is growing towards improving customer experiences and PWAs are one of the best ways to achieve that as they can work offline while loading instantly and provide more efficient user engagement. Developers in innovative web development firms appreciate PWAs as they provide them with a new way of creating applications with modern features.