Why PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) Might Be the Future of the Mobile Web

guest · Sep 11, 2019

Why PWAs Might Be the Future of the Mobile Web
September 10, 2019
https://artplusmarketing.com/why-pwas-might-be-the-future-of-the-mobile-web-1f041b81db31

Mobile use is growing all the time. In Q1 2019, 65% of all retail website visits were made through a smartphone, and 53.9% of all online retail sales revenue is expected to be generated via m-commerce by 2021.

Today, customers expect to be able to do everything on their phones, and without any friction. It’s no longer enough for businesses to deliver a high-quality online experience; they need to offer the best mobile visitor experience too.
With this in mind, many businesses have launched native apps. Apps have many benefits over mobile websites. They’re faster, they’re easier for customers to navigate, and they’re more appealing to customers who now spend more time on apps than browsers.
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What is a Progressive Web App?
Introduced by Google in 2015, the progressive web app (PWA) is a clever combination of the best features of both apps and mobile sites.
But the cost of building a PWA is closer to that of a mobile site — far cheaper than a native app. They are easy to set up, like a mobile site.
Why demand is rising for PWAs
PWAs have to compete with two rivals: mobile websites, and native apps. So far, they’ve shown significant benefits over both these alternatives.

When it comes to mobile websites, PWAs are far more reliable. They rarely freeze or crash, and load noticeably faster. What’s more, unlike mobile sites, PWAs create an icon on the device home screen to serve as a visual reminder to users to connect with your company, and can interact with smartphone gadgetry like camera, GPS, and push notifications that boost omnichannel marketing.
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guest · Jul 17, 2020

Progressive Web Apps still have a long way to go
July 17, 2020
https://www.slashgear.com/progressive-web-apps-still-have-a-long-way-to-go-17629387/

There have been and continues to be numerous attempts at crossing those platforms but one solution seems to reappear time and again, a solution harnesses the power of the web, the one platform available on all platforms.
Progressive Web Apps, as the current incarnation is called, has definitely gone a long way from the earliest Java applets but is still far from becoming the all-in-one solution its proponents try to advertise.

Progressive Web Apps or PWAs are the current evolution of this concept and its differentiating factor is how they mimic native applications on their respective operating systems.
Progressive Advantages
Web apps attempt to offer a single service and experience that work no matter what device or operating system you’re on, give or take a few limitations in screen sizes and web page design. Progressive web apps take this to the next level by actually decoupling the web app from the web browser while still relying on the same web-based technologies and concepts.
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Crippling Limitations
Then there’s the fact that these browsers and web technologies don’t have access to all the hardware and platform functionalities that native apps enjoy.
The list of capabilities that PWAs can use is growing for sure but that does mean having to wait for that to happen when native apps can easily get access to them.

Then there are the somewhat thorny topics of data ownership and privacy. Web apps and especially PWAs always have the option of storing their data on the device itself but most will probably store only a cache for offline scenarios, putting the bulk of the user’s data in a remote server.
You may own the data you create with the app but so does the company storing it remotely, data that could also be intercepted in transit.
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Wrap-up
PWAs are clearly a step up from their earlier web app cousins and have become more at home on the platforms they live in.
They are still far from being “write once, deploy everywhere” utopia the likes of Microsoft and Google are advertising them to be. They might eventually get there, depending on how quickly web technologies and standards catch up with platform integration.

For now, however, they still have a long way to go.
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