The need for businesses to target customers on mobile devices is well-established at this point. The question is no longer if they should do it but how. A business that wants to appeal to mobile-based customers has three choices: build a responsive website, develop a native app or create a progressive web app (PWA).

Mobile websites are quick and easy to get to, but they tend to be less pleasant in terms of user experience. Native apps provide the finest user experience, but they are limited to certain devices and have high barriers to adoption. Native apps require a download, which means generating considerable buy-in from consumers first and losing the benefit of impulse behavior. Sitting between these options is the newest mobile solution: the PWA. It combines the best elements of mobile sites and native apps while mitigating their disadvantages.

What Are Progressive Web Apps?

In its simplest sense, a progressive web app is a mobile app delivered through the web. It functions like a native app, due to the use of an app shell that allows for app-style gestures and navigations. The main difference is that there is no need to download it from an app store. It runs, self-contained, right in a web browser. With the help of service workers, a progressive web app is able to load instantly, even in areas of low connectivity. With the help of pre-caching, the app stays up to date at all times, displaying the most recent version upon launching.

Progressive Web Apps Are Efficient And Economical

PWAs are more efficient than native apps. They work on-demand and are always accessible, without taking up a smartphone’s valuable memory or data. By choosing to use a PWA over a native version of the same application, users consume less data (as is the case for the Twitter PWA). However, this doesn’t mean users need to sacrifice the convenience of a native app. They are still able to save the PWA to their home screen — it’s installable without the hassle of a real download.

This not only highlights the improvement in user experience but also the earlier issue of consumer buy-in. Users must make a conscious decision and even a commitment to download and keep a native app. Uninstalling that app is an equally final decision. In contrast, clicking a simple link is an easy task that requires very little consideration, little data storage on your device, no lengthy download period and no installation. 

From a developer perspective, progressive web apps are also more economical. They are faster to build and update. You can also create one version of the app, and it displays seamlessly and identically on all devices. Rather than the segmented market of native mobile apps — where businesses need a separate app structure for Apple and Android devices — PWAs are unified to work on browsers that are common to all devices. Better yet, they cost less to develop than a native mobile app.

Progressive Web Apps Are The Future