Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about
progressive web apps (PWAs), which are taking the IT world by storm.
(And in case you have been living under a rock, you can
check out this primer on progressive web apps from Google.)
From
Burger King (the Whopper is still amazing most of the time — depending
on the individual restaurant, but this is another topic!) to NASA, The
Home Depot to Apple, more and more organizations are switching to
progressive web apps, and we can’t blame them. After all, the
combination of the immersive experience offered by native apps coupled
with the reach of and ease of access to the Internet is hard to ignore.
With progressive web apps, you get speed, engagement, and reliability — the whole shebang. With support for these
apps increasing rapidly across different platforms, now’s the time to get started.
Best progressive app builder tools
React: It all starts with selecting the correct core
framework for the job, and you can’t go wrong with React. Supported and
managed by Facebook, React is tested daily by 1.18 billion users.
Another reason why this framework is preferred by developers is React
Native, which allows you to port the apps created with React easily to
native applications. Thanks to its component-centric developmental
approach, you can reuse components built using JavaScript. Plus, you can
deliver apps to various browsers, devices, and operating systems
without hassle.
Polymer: With Polymer template, you can reduce the
time needed to set up progressive web apps. This open source Google
project receives regular updates to stay in sync with the open source
projects the template leverages. App delivery to the device is optimized
significantly thanks to the PRPL pattern of the Polymer templates. You
can use HTTP2 servers to deliver on-demand resources and pre-cache
resourced provided by service workers. Overall, Polymer is great for
building prototypes in a jiffy. You can get started on project coding
immediately while bypassing the custom setup.
Webpack: Nothing beats Webpack when it comes to
creating complex, frontend-driven progressive sites. Sure, the learning
curve is a bit harsh, but this module bundler for JS apps enables you to
form dependency graphs quickly, thereby eliminating the requirement for
managed dependencies. As a result, you’re not required to link JS files
present at the bottom of HTML web pages anymore. You can call every
noncode asset via JavaScript using Webpack as objects with considerable
speed benefits.
Knockout: Knockout is perfect for creating smaller
progressive web apps projects where execution speed is key. Coupled with
JavaScript, it lets you handle Model-View-View-Model (MVVM) bindings.
You can use Knockout for developing proofs of concept at the time of
design sprint. You can use Knockout for extending HTML and templating.
Lighthouse:
Lighthouse
is Google’s progressive web apps performance-monitoring tool that
installs as a Chrome plugin. You will receive a detailed analytics
report on numerous sub-sections consisting of specific technologies that
you can modify or add to enhance your PWA performance. So, Lighthouse
both tests your websites and guides you on the right path to resolve the
issues.
Comparing progressive web apps to native apps
Progressive web apps are the darling of the IT industry right now.
But the big question is, are they merely a fad or will they have a
lasting impact? The answer can help you make a salient decision and
impact your company for years to come.
However, it all starts with understanding the differences between the
two. Sure, there are several advantages to native apps that progressive
web apps cannot match up to, and vice versa. Check them out below:
Android functionality
Android integration is equally good on native apps and progressive
web apps. Native apps, however, provide a few benefits that iOS cannot
compare to when it comes to progressive web apps. Home screen
installation is a lot simpler and more straightforward on Android, which
means as soon as users access a PWA in their Android browser, they are
prompted to install it on their home screen for quick access.
iOS devices also support the installation of PWAs on the home screen,
but there is no way for the user to know that this is a viable option.
Moreover, they are given no clear instructions regarding the process.
Also, service workers are supported by all Android browsers, while iOS
users gain the advantage only on the Safari browser.
iOS functionality
PWAs are compatible with iOS but only up to a certain extent. A 100
percent of their possible functionality, however, isn’t supported like
on the Android platform. Thankfully, Apple’s latest move to supporting
service workers in the Safari browser is a major improvement that has
opened the doors to functionality that was earlier lacking.
However, one thing is still missing in Apple devices and that’s the
capacity to get web push notifications, which is a major oversight.
Alternatively, users can be contacted through SMS but if regular push
notifications are necessary for your project, it is vital to press the
key (pun intended) for native apps.
Geolocation capabilities
Progressive web apps and native apps offer almost the same features
with one major difference — geofences and beacons. Unfortunately, the
former apps do not support geolocation, which means users have no way of
receiving location-based notifications.
Considering how integral an element this is to millions of different
projects, this serves as a severe hindrance for progressive web apps.
Thankfully, the PWAs do let you send push notifications depending on
targeted factors, like the city or country of the users, so it’s not a
total loss.
Discoverability
Is your business or project still in the fledgling stages? Then you
need SEO to help potential customers and users discover more about you.
SEO, however, is limited to PWAs as they center on search engine
queries.
App store optimization (ASO) is available for native apps, but it
lacks the power and efficiency of traditional web SEO that is
instrumental in bringing useful traffic to your PWA from the various
long-tail search keywords.
Device differentiation
When you go native, your audience is severely limited as they must
use one of two standard mobile operating systems. Blackberry and Windows
users are forgone, and desktop users especially are ignored. But given
how PWAs run in your browser, you ensure that 100 percent of individuals
enjoy access to this universal tool and get a chance to access your
content.
PWAs or native?
At the end of the day, it all boils down to your requirements.
Progressive web apps might not meet all your requirements, which means
you may still have to rely on native apps.
However, all signs point to progressive web apps slowly overshadowing
and replacing native apps. That’s still a ways off though, and by that
time, their functionality will have increased exponentially making them a
worthy substitute.
Featured image: Pixabay