Mobile site web pages lose out a great deal of traffic due to sluggish loading. Tolerance power of visitors is in seconds and hence such apps have restricted time to hold on to user eyeballs. Research shows that just over half of web app visitors abandon pages if it takes over 3 seconds to load.
It is important to allow mobile site pages load fast or else there is a significant loss in visitor retention rate. Mobile site pages that are media take even more time to load going up to 15 seconds. So, the question arises as to what should be done to increase the mobile site speed?
The answer is progressive web apps, popularly known as PWAs.
These are the apps capable of boosting loading time of webpages. More importantly they have the ability to analyse the conversion rate so as to optimise the user interface and user experience (UI/UX) to the fullest.
A brief on Progressive web apps
PROGRESSIVE WEB APPS is a concept introduced by Google way back in 2015. It is a deadly combination of a web app and a native app that performs seamlessly across platforms, can work both online and offline, and loads in no time. The best part is Progressive web apps look like web apps but function like native apps.
Why businesses need Progressive web apps?
it is usually difficult for a business to maintain both the website and an app at the same time. Additionally, there is a concern regarding whether a website is accessed equally on all device screens while not to forget smooth functioning as well. hiring a separate team for iOS, android, or web app development can be a cumbersome job and that is where Progressive web apps come to the rescue.
This is not the case with Progressive web apps. Such apps not just ran across platforms but even function as per the operating system and load rapidly compared to other apps. The other advantages with Progressive web apps are they are installable, run on networks with low quality, work offline, and at the same time high on aesthetic appeal.
However, simply deciding upon Progressive web apps is not enough for any business. It is more important to partner with a company on board who can understand your needs and accordingly build Progressive web apps. Let us look at the qualities you should be looking into a progressive web app development company to hire on board not to lose out on PROGRESSIVE WEB APPS edge.
Need of a Progressive Web App Development Company
Guarantee of a notch higher engagement
Most users today are inquisitive about accessing progressive apps rather than mobile websites. There are several informational stats to back this point. Let us look at why users are giving more preference to such hybrid apps rather than just a mere website meant for mobile.
- The average time of loading in case of Progressive web apps is a bit lower than 3 seconds making it almost 8 times fast than a mobile landing page.
- The average bounce rate in case of Progressive web apps is lesser than 50% making it an ideal option as compared to a mobile website.
- Sessions on Progressive web apps lasts about 80% on an average.
- When using Progressive web apps, brands can expect page views shooting up by more than 125%.
- Overall engagement reaches near to 150%, while for brands it is even twice or thrice more.
Professionals can utilise cross compatibility
An all round appeal of progressive web apps across any device or screen size makes them a favourite among professionals who know how to take an optimum advantage out of it.
Native apps be imitated with great ease
Native apps have a good number of advantages and the same can be replicated in Progressive web apps but of course with the help of an experienced team.
Speedy performance is a sure shot thing
Progressive web apps do deliver a performance that is rapid in nature and this in turn helps programmers or developers to build Progressive web apps very high on deliverables.
Security not compromised at any point
Because of stringent HTTPS protocol followed, Progressive web apps help experts to craft something high on safety standards keeping intruders at bay.
Google indexing done by default
This is the best part when dealing with Progressive web apps since a professional team can take care of the SEO strategies due to the similar looking URLs as you would expect from a mobile site.
Not to worry about installation process
When you have a well equipped group by your side, there is really nothing to worry about since progressive web apps being produced as a result of technical knowledge can be well downloaded on to mobile device without visiting the application stores like App Store or Play Store for the same.
Can be seamlessly shared without installation
Progressive web apps created as a result of an experienced team have URLs that can be shared with ease without demanding any kind of installation highlighting the linkable nature.
Independency of working offline on low network
Progressive web apps have the biggest benefits of offline accessibility and that too when coming from professionals that can operate on relatively low networks with ease.
Have the privileges of push notifications
Push notifications is possible with a native app only. However, since Progressive web apps have the hybrid qualities of both web and native apps, the developers can help you take optimum advantage of push notifications from progressive web apps built by them.
Let application store traffic find you
Since Progressive web apps inherit abilities of both native and web apps, it gives enough room for stellar professionals to upload them to both Play Store and App Store, so that traffic from both the stores can be leveraged.
Apps that save power of Smartphone battery
Usually Progressive web apps are touted as apps consuming great deal of Smartphone battery, but that thing can be capitalised when you hire a professional progressive web app development company. The reason is quite evident since Smartphones have tough time deciphering the complex codes of Progressive web apps. However, when there is an ideal outsourcing partner knowing the job, you can expect the Progressive web apps to conserve battery big time.
Apps that fully utilise the device features
Be it push notifications, camera, geolocation, bluetooth, Wi-Fi or other native functionalities, Progressive web apps coming from a reputed company are well versed to consider all the functionalities irrespective of iOS or Android.
Save cost and time as compared to DIY
This is pretty much evident as you might spend great deal of your time and money by doing it yourself and still you may not end up with required results as that is not your core competency as a business dealing with specific products or services. Several criterion count for calculating the budget and timeline for any progressive web app project, which can seriously take great deal of fortune and efforts from your end that would have been otherwise invested in something fruitful. This is where hiring a progressive web app development company can be the difference maker.
Think about it. If you consider doing it in-house then you would have to hire developers, extend infrastructure, pay salaries of newly hired contract or project based people, reserving man hours of your existing employees to carry out certain complicated tasks, bring on contemporary programming platforms to accomplish the undertaking, and whatnot. Now when you hire a professional web app development company for all these activities or tasks, you would not only be able to focus on your core business offerings, but can even concentrate on the advertising and marketing initiatives.
This would not just help propel your project to be launched in the market soon, but even keep you at bay of the technical hurdles or uncertain complexities that might arise when you take it up as a DIY task. The result would be a timely and an affordable delivery of a product that is world class and have more chances of being successful since it has been created by someone who are way more experienced in the field than you.
Progressive Web Apps – 2021 The Pros And Cons
PWAs Pros:
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- Offline Mode:-
PWAs can also be cached by web browser and can be used when offline. This is good for businesses with catalog products because it gives customers the chance to browse products even when they are offline. This can increase the revenue of your business.
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- Improved Performance:-
Almost half of the people will stop using the website which takes more time then 3 seconds to load and once the website gets load they expect that the website is working fast.
Because PWA utilises the service workers, which can be javascript files that run separately from the main browser thread and proactively control the assets caching.
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- No installations or manual updates are require:-
If you want to use twitter’s progressive web apps you don’t need to go to visit the play store or apple store to install it. Users can simply search in the google for twitter web and can log in to it without any delay. This happens because when twitter updates its PWA, users don’t have to manually install the app and all the new features are available without any manual action.
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- Platform specific features:-
No list is complete without the facts of PWAs. The PWAs can take advantage of many platform specific-features. PWAs can stay on the user’s home screen and deliver web push notifications that are just like regular push notifications. They can run on full screen, change display orientation and much more.
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- Low on data:-
In some countries like India, Columbia, Pakistan, etc the cost of mobile data is higher than developed countries. PWAs are much smaller than mobile apps. They can take good advantage of caching.
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- App store independent:-
It is app store independent, which is a good news for small businesses or independent app developers.
It is also dependent on some app stores that allows the developers to develop the app they want at free of cost without any policies or restrictions.
PWAs Cons:
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- Compatibility with iOS:-
Since the new version of iOS was released it was possible to run PWAs on Apple devices but cannot be used on older versions of apple. Apple doesn’t allow some of the important features to PWAs like including touch id, face id and many more.
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- Issues with legacy devices:-
PWAs have been in the market from past few years so the older devices to mobile cannot get the permission to use the advantages and features of PWAs. But we hope that this problem will be solved in the future, some customers will complain about this to companies.
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- PWAs can’t do everything:-
A compared to traditional web apps PWAs cannot do everything and anything that other mobile apps can do. Because they are written in Javascript they are not as battery efficient as in native languages.
Their performance is also not as good as the native apps, because it is the fact that Javascript is a single threaded language. At some point, access to some important features is still not there, that is, bluetooth, proximity sensors, advanced camera controls and others.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is a PWA?
A progressive web app is a web application with native benefits created using platforms like JavaScript and other web frameworks.
2. What does a PWA constitute?
A progressive web app is a hybrid app having functionalities of both the web app and a native app comprising of cross compatibility, leveraging native features, fast loading, and more.
3. How a native app differ from a PWA?
Native app leverage abilities specific to iOS or Android operating system and even PWA does have capabilities of both web and native apps.
4. How a web app differ from a PWA?
Web app do have cross platform abilities and even PWA since it have capabilities of both web and native apps.
5. Are PWAs platform-specific?
PWAs can work across all platforms whether be iOS or Android and since have native capabilities they do leverage device features individually.
6. Are PWAs Internet independent?
PWAs do work great even without the Internet and also on slow networks.
7. What to choose – Native, Web, or PWA?
Native apps work great when you want to leverage device features and functionalities to the fullest however they can’t work across platforms requiring to have a separate app for iOS and Android.
Cross platform apps work great when just one app to be functional across operating systems with a common app for both iOS and Android but leveraging native features is not possible in this case.
Since Progressive Web Apps is a hybrid combination of both PWAs not just are capable to process across operating systems but can even leverage native features at its best.
8. How end users can benefit from a PWA?
There aren’t any additional steps required for PWA installation. The end users can do a simple search and buy whatever they want to without installing anything. So, there is no installation or downloading process lengthy in nature, there are savings from storage perspective, while they are easily available for Google search rather than looking out on application stores.
9. Are PWAs cross browser compatible?
Progressive web apps have the ability to work across all kinds of browsers no matter what kind of browser it is whether be Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc.
10. Are PWAs smart devices compatible?
PWAs can work very well across all kinds of devices due to the partial features of a web app and hence irrespective of the screen size, it can work across platform and screen size.
Let us sum up the discussion
Its absolutely crystal clear as to what impact Progressive web apps can have on a business. But, more importantly, it is about getting an ideal outsourcing partner on board to help you with the undertaking. We have tried to cover each and every point above strongly keeping our point regarding why you should plan to hire a progressive web app development company rather than doing it all by yourself.
Still thinking upon what to do? We suggest you devote good time thinking upon each and every single benefit being discussed above when trying to figure out things related with your project. No matter what business, it is always best to hire someone more experienced and professional than doing in-house.
