What Are Progressive Web Apps? How PWAs Work & Its Benefits

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are an exciting new way to create mobile and web applications that combine the best of both worlds! They offer users an experience just like using a native mobile application, but with the added convenience of being accessible through web browsers.

PWAs have become popular in recent years, and for a good reason! They offer many benefits over traditional mobile applications, and in this article, we’ll explore exactly what they are, how they work, and what they offer.
We’ll cover topics like how PWAs can work offline, how they can send push notifications to users, and how easy it is to install them directly onto a device. We’ll also look at the technologies used to build PWAs and how they are assembled.

So, whether you’re a business owner who wants to offer your customers a better user experience, or a developer interested in learning about the latest web development trends, this article will give you some valuable insights into the world of PWAs. Let’s get started and discover what makes them so unique!

What Is A Progressive Web Application?

A progressive web app (PWA) is the amalgamation of the technologies of web and mobile apps that act as a website but render you the feeling of running an application. The rapid advancement in browser technology, availability of push APIs, and cache have enabled web developers to install website applications on the home screen and provide regular notifications of the website’s latest updates in the offline mode.

But what is the need of putting your website-like application on the home screen of PCs or smartphones? The answer is clear as real, to exterminate the unwanted need of opening a browser or installing applications.

You don’t have to go through the dull process of visiting the play store, finding the application, installing the application, and then starting using it. From the website, you can install the PWA with a single click and you can use the app right away even in offline mode. Progressive web apps have push notifications, which gives them a better retention rate than their counterparts with no push notification option.

According to Statista, the total number of smartphone users worldwide is predicted to reach 3.8 billion in 2021. This is more than half of the world’s population!

PWA Statistics You Should Be Aware Of

• PWAs have a conversion rate that is 36% greater than native apps.
• Progressive web apps have a 50% better client engagement rate.
• Companies that migrate to PWAs see a 10-fold reduction in page loading times.
  The following are some of the firms that have reduced page load times by moving to progressive web apps:
  1. Wego – a trip booking service, reduced the time it took for a page to load from 12 seconds to less than 3 seconds, and in some cases even less than 1 second.
  2. Twitter Lite — this PWA is interactive in less than 5 seconds over 3G on most electronic devices, with typical load times that are 30 percent quicker.
  3. Forbes – the homepage of this progressive web app loaded entirely in only 0.8 seconds;
  4. ZEE5 – the streaming platform gained 3x quicker loading speeds and 50% less buffering time after releasing a PWA to increase its reach.
  5. Treebo– Has succeeded in reducing the average time spent interacting with the app to 1.5 seconds.
• PWAs are 3-4 times less expensive than native mobile apps.
• Maintaining progressive web apps is 33% less expensive.
• Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can be up to 90% smaller than native mobile apps.
• A PWA’s average bounce rate is only 42.86 percent.

How Progressive Web Apps Work?

PWAs, or Progressive Web Apps, are web applications designed to work like native apps on your device. They are built using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and can be accessed through a web browser.

When you visit a PWA for the first time, your browser will download the necessary files, such as the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, as well as any media assets like images and videos. This is known as caching. Once the initial download is complete, the PWA can be accessed offline, a significant advantage over traditional web apps.

One of the key features of PWAs is their ability to provide a native-app-like experience. This is achieved by using a service worker, which acts as a middleman between the PWA and the browser. The service worker runs in the background, intercepts network requests made by the PWA, and can respond with cached data if the network is unavailable.

Another essential feature of PWAs is their ability to be installed on your device’s home screen, just like a native app. This allows them to have an icon, launch screen, and other features similar to native apps. This is achieved through a web app manifest technology, which defines the PWA’s metadata, such as its name, icons, and start URL.

Overall, PWAs provide a fast, reliable, and engaging user experience and are becoming an increasingly popular way to build web applications that rival native apps in terms of functionality and performance.

To Develop a Progressive Web App (PWA), You Will Need to Use Html, Css, and JavaScript. Here Is Some Basic Syntax to Get You Started

1. HTML Syntax:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>My PWA</title>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json">
    <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/images/icons/icon-72x72.png">
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, World!</h1>
  </body>
</html>

2. CSS Syntax:

body {
font-family: sans-serif;
background-color: #f2f2f2;
}

h1 {
font-size: 2rem;
color: #333;
}

3. JavaScript Syntax:

// Register service worker
if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
navigator.serviceWorker.register('/sw.js')
.then(function() {
console.log('Service worker registered!');
});
}

// Install service worker
self.addEventListener('install', function(event) {
console.log('Service worker installed!');
});

// Fetch assets from cache
self.addEventListener('fetch', function(event) {
event.respondWith(
caches.match(event.request)
.then(function(response) {
return response || fetch(event.request);
})
);
});

These are just some basic syntax examples. You will need to learn more advanced concepts and techniques to develop a complete PWA, or you can Connect With Us to convert your app idea into reality

Key Characteristics Of Progressive Web Applications

There are numerous characteristics of progressive web apps, and we are going to state the top-notch ones here.

1. PWA Provides App-Like Experience

PWAs offer a full-screen experience and look like a native application. Moreover, progressive web apps have minimal page refreshes.

2. Linkable

One of the principal characteristics of the progressive web app is its linkability. Users can easily share or bookmark the app’s URL whenever they want, and the app can retain or reload its state at the same time.

3. Discoverable

A progressive web application is a website with an application-like experience in the original sense. Therefore, it should be easily discoverable on the search engine result page, and it is one of the biggest advantages of progressive web apps over native applications.

4. Responsiveness

A fully-fledged progressive web application must be able to fit all screens sizes and provide a great user experience.

5. Progressive

Hereby progressive we mean PWAs should be able to harness all attributes of the platform, must function on any device seamlessly, and augment progressively.

6. Easy to Install

You can effortlessly install progressive web apps on any device and make the content ready to read in no time.

7. Safe

A progressive web app should be hosted over HTTPS to prevent external threats hampering the website’s performance. The job of a progressive web application is to provide an alluring and intimate user experience.

Three App Pillars Of PWA

1. Web Is Capable

Today’s web is quite capable on its own. WebRTC, geolocation, and push notifications, for example, might be utilized to build hyper-local video chat software. You may install that software and virtualize the talks using WebGL and WebVR. Developers may now use WebAssembly to access other ecosystems, such as C, C++, and Rust, and bring decades of labor and capabilities to the web.

2. Reliable Progressive Web App

A reliable Progressive Web App feels speedy and dependable regardless of the network, and responsible applications must be accessible regardless of network connection. Users expect apps to run even if their network connection is weak or unpredictable or when they are not connected to the internet. Even if initiating a request to your server is onerous, customers want the most current material they have interacted with, such as media tracks, tickets, and itineraries, to be available and usable. When a request isn’t feasible, they like to be notified rather than failing or crashing silently.

3. Installed Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps that have been installed operate in their window rather than in a browser tab. When a Progressive Web App transitions from a tab to a standalone app window, it alters how users see and interact with it.

The Difference Between PWA & AMP

Though there are monumental differences between progressive web apps and accelerated mobile pages, the primary purpose of both technologies is to serve users’ content pieces in a faster, secure, and more engaging way. While progressive web apps harness browsers’ functionalities, AMP is a stripped-down web page version comprising HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

• PWA is a website page that provides the app-like experience while AMP or accelerated mobile pages is the most basic version of a web page without code clutter.
• PWA functions swiftly in comparison to AMP pages.
• PWA harness the push notification attribute that augments users’ retention rate but AMP lacks this attribute.
• PWA provides the entire information on a web page as the way it is. While AMP exterminates a lot of scripts from the web page to amplify the speed and conversion rate simultaneously.
• Progressive web apps have the knack to access content even in the offline mode. But that’s not the case with AMP.
• When compared to AMP, PWA consumes a very low network to open up. But AMP pages rank higher than normal webpages.

Also Read : How To Implement PWA For Magento eCommerce Store

Numerous Benefits of Progressive Web Apps Over Mobile Apps

Unquestionably, the benefits of progressive web apps are innumerable and surpass mobile apps by leaps and bounds.

1. Functionalities of Native Apps

PWAs can effortlessly and uninterruptedly run on all native platforms without depending heavily on browsers. As PWAs are highly responsive in nature, they provide a top-of-the-line user experience to users regardless of screen size.

2. They Consume Less Disk Space Than Traditional Apps

You have to download mobile applications to use them. However, PWAs don’t gobble a lot of space on users’ devices as they are hosted on the webserver of the respective website. In addition to that, unlike traditional applications, PWA’s don’t require regular updates.

3. Users Don’t Have to Update PWAs on Their Own

Traditional applications need regular updates to be utilized in a full-fledged manner. Progressive web apps update themselves independently. There is no need for users to visit the app store to install or upgrade the applications.

4. Users Can Share PWA by Sending a URL

Like normal websites or applications URL, users can also share PWAs URLs and share them with fellow users. This can help in spreading brand awareness expeditiously.

5. SEO Benefits

You can also implement all the SEO tactics and strategies to boost the online presence of progressive web apps and garner more traffic, sales, and conversions.

6. Access PWAs with URL Instead of Downloading Them

Users don’t have to visit the app store or similar platforms to download a PWA and use it. With access to the URL address, users can easily visit PWAs as they are websites stored on an Internet server.

Organizations Using Progressive Web Apps

It would be impossible for us to state the name of all organizations harnessing the benefits of PWA. We would like to state a few remarkable brand names that are taking advantage of progressive web apps like no one else.

• Forbes
• Financial Times
• Flipkart
• Voot
• Alibaba
• Fandango
• Jumia Travel
• Ola
• Twitter
• Virgin America
• The Washington Post

Also Read : How to Install PWA in Magento 2.3

How to Develop Your Own Progressive Web App?

As we all know that PWAs are basically websites with app-like experience, you need similar website development tools and frameworks to carve your own progressive web apps.

1. Angular JS

Angular JS is a widely popular Javascript framework used to build highly functional applications with to the T user interface. Angular JS provides you with the right atmosphere to develop state-of-the-art web solutions that resonate with PWAs.

2. Webpack

It is one of the most sought-after module bundlers. The primary function of Webpack is to bundle all the Javascripts in one place and make it possible for developers to create an astonishing front-end for a website without prior knowledge of advanced coding.

With the help of Webpack, you can create as many websites as you want with the PWA characteristics.

3. PWA. Rocks

PWA.rocks is one of the best resources prevailing on the web that illustrates how to create a PWA, how it works, and what the PWA will look like once it is developed.

4. Power Builder

A tool for the noobs. It is one fine instrument that you can use on already created web solutions to construct a full-fledged PWA out of it. You can add the title, description, and app icon in PWA after producing it. Moreover, you will also get the option to change the orientation, terminology, and color of PWA as per your preference.

Why You Should Use PWA? The Future of Progressive Web Apps?

There is no denying the fact that Progressive web apps have an upper hand over traditional mobile applications. You can provide users app-like experience on any device without spending a fortune in developing native applications or hybrid applications separately.

Presumably, PWAs have a better user retention rate and also the conversion rate than mobile applications because they load faster and are easy to install and use. They consume minimal disk space and are also created to work seamlessly in offline environments. With each passing day, a profound number of organizations are opting for PWA technology as it is cost-effective, simple to use, and works smoothly and swiftly on all screen sizes.

From the above-mentioned advantages and statements, it is crystal-clear that the future of progressive web apps is glittering and they are going to dominate the Internet for a long time.