Progressive Web App is a cutting-edge technology that is going to be the next big thing in the web world. Google proposed the concept in 2015, and by now, Progressive Web App (PWA) is already preferred by web developers owing to its exceptional performance and cost-effectiveness.

You must be thinking, what made Google develop PWAs?

Google felt that it was essential to understand user behavior in internet platforms.

The count of mobile web unique visitors surpassed that of native apps by 8 million.

Some users avail smartphones to access web services, while others use desktops and laptops to use web services.

In the smartphone sector, there are two broad categories. They are Android users and iOS users. For the application developers, it is quite challenging to write and maintain sperate coding formats and codes for these two different operating systems. That is the reason the developers thought of going in for the progressive web app development.

Why Should You Opt-in For PWAs Development?

Progressive web applications come in with a lot of facilities and features. The application developers needed to make sperate applications for desktop and mobile. This was time-consuming, and at the same time, very hard to maintain. The PWAs have eliminated the need to create separate web pages and has combined the features of both mobile and desktop operating platforms.

Quoting Google Developer Advocate Pete LePage, the “Progressive” term is used “as the user progressively builds a connection with the app over time, it becomes more strong and powerful”.

The Top 9 Benefits Of PWAs

PWAs come in with a lot of benefits. The 9 major advantages of using PWAs are listed below:

• PWAs can be modified and updated smoothly. The updating process is an easy one, and the users can get more updated applications.
• PWAs are very much responsive, and they can fit in any device as per the layout. So, whether you are using a mobile, tablet, laptop, or desktop, PWA is a fit for all.
• PWAs support push notifications functionality, which helps businesses to promote their products in an effective way.
• The most important feature of PWAs is the installation process. The users have to literally do nothing complicated in order to install PWAs in their devices.
• PWAs have a system that provides a secure environment for users. These web applications are hard to hack, and so it is safe to say that PWAs are secure than traditional applications.
• The JSON file in PWAs helps the developer by providing a central database where all the information can be stored.
• PWA has added SEO benefits. PWAs can rank on regular search engines, making them more visible to the users.
• PWAs have greater flexibility because one PWA can run on both Android and iOS. This feature saves development costs and eases the usability.
• PWAs are lightweight and occupy less memory than native apps.

The main characteristics of PWAs are – progressive, discoverable, linkable, responsive, app-like, connectivity-independent, re-engageable, installable, and safe.

How Has PWA Helped The Industry Giants?

There are several companies that have taken up PWAs and have implemented the concept in their business models. Here are 3 such examples:

Twitter

The PWA concept has been used by Twitter, and it has contributed to a massive increase in user engagement with the site. Twitter is one of the most accessed sites on the internet. Celebrities to companies are present on Twitter, and it is one of the most important sites.

After implementing the PWA concept, Twitter has experienced a dramatic increase in performance and stability.

Pinterest

Pinterest is one of the largest photo-sharing applications on the internet. If the site becomes slow and unresponsive at times, then this can be a problem for the users. But after integrating the PWA concept, there has been a drastic rise in user engagements, and the site has become more responsive than ever.

Alibaba Group

The Alibaba Group has its operations spread across the world. To maintain its operations property, the eCommerce site needs to be fast and responsive. After implements PWAs, the site has now experienced a conversion rate of 80% or more.

Some more popular companies who have embraced PWA are Forbes, Flipkart, The Weather Channel, The Washington Post, Virgin America, and the list goes on.

What Are The Basics Of PWA Development?

Before developing progressive web apps, one must remember that progressive apps are nothing but optimized websites. Progressive web apps are platform-independent, and that is the reason it can be developed by a trained PWA developer.

The requirements for a progressive web app development are as follows:

1. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) servers for better user experience and usability.
2. JSON file as a web manifest that contains the metadata.
3. A registered service worker to allow the PWAs to work offline as well.
4. Push notifications for giving the users timely updates regarding the changes in sites.

A majority of the developers support the fact that PWAs are more manageable and take less time to build than native applications.

There are several web app development companies who are into PWAs. These companies take care of the apps from the creation phase to the testing phase. Here are some of the popular PWA development companies in the USA:

• WillowTree
• Appinventive
• Clavax
• Mercury Development
• Cubix

The internet world has become more dynamic in recent times, and the PWAs have paved the way for a better internet ecosystem in the future.

Final Thoughts

Progressive web app development is a robust technology that can indeed provide a competitive edge to your business in this marketplace. In this article, we have discussed how technological advancements have provided an upper hand over native apps and responsive websites. Attending everything, it can be rightly said that PWA is the future of web development.