Progressive Web Apps: Advantages & Tools

PWA Web Application

Posted on 26 Mar 2019 6 min read Share On:

Progressive Web Apps offers a richer and more unique mobile experience to users. Progressive web apps (PWAs) load like web pages or websites offering functionality such as working offline, push notifications, and device hardware access. PWA is a revolutionary technology providing richer mobile experience, combining the best of both web worlds with robustness of native application. The rise of PWAs is considered to be the new norm and the future of mobile applications, making native applications a thing of the past. It is important to partner with a reliable Progressive Web App Development company to offer a ubiquitous experience to users.

Several critical capabilities separate a progressive website from a traditional website. Progressive web apps must be able to do the following:

Work with most browsers and devices (mobile and desktop) with a progressive codebase
Fit all screen and form factors using a responsive design
Leverage service workers to enable offline connectivity (HTTPS required)
Provide an app-like experience that leverages re-engagement tools, such as push notifications
Leverage a web app manifest to describe the used resources

Native apps provide excellent user experience, but they are limited to certain devices and have high barriers to adoption. A progressive web application can act as a web page and as a native mobile app at the same time.

According to Google there are three main features of PWA

Reliable – Load instantly and never goes down on performance, even in uncertain network conditions.
Fast – Respond quickly to user interactions with seamless animations and no janky scrolling.
Engaging – Provides a natural experience on the device, with an immersive user experience.

Advantages of PWA for businesses

Mobile-first Approach

Mobile-first approach is now a business necessity. Whether it is about providing excellent customer experiences or enhances the ability to work while on the go, PWA empowers companies to combine the best of both worlds. PWA is the step in the right direction when it comes to delivering a cohesive mobile-first digital transformation strategy in order to meet your competition.

Many established businesses have already built a native mobile experience for their customers. However, building a Progressive web application can replace a company’s need to replace a mobile site, desktop site or even its native app. PWA can be a mobile-first approach to connect with customers.

On the other hand, if you don’t have an established mobile presence, you can simply skip these steps and go directly for a PWA. Larger companies have developed mobile presence early on will eventually have to migrate their mobile presence to progressive technology.

Eliminate problems with App Store Integration

Progressive Web Application Development Services can help overcome the problems associated with app store integration, as well as rules relating to approval of iOS and Android approval process. It effectively means that PWAs can be updated in App or Play Store approval needed so any critical issues can be fixed in a relatively shorter timeframe.

As PWA is similar to websites, the update happens pretty much the way a website is updated. You see the update when you load the PWA and it doesn’t have to be updated in the background or before you launch it like a native app.

Top Tools for PWA Development

Knockout

A free JavaScript tool, Knockout helps developers to build responsive displays with Model-View-View Model or MVVM bindings. This allows simplifying the process of coding JavaScript UIs by letting you define views and declarative bindings that are controlled by viewmodel properties.

Knockout includes the following features:

Declarative bindings: Obvious way to connect parts of UI with your data model. You can create highly complex dynamic UIs using arbitrarily nested binding contexts.
Automatic UI refresh (when the data model’s state changes, the UI updates automatically)
Dependency tracking Templating with native template engine with template engines.
Set up a series of relationships between model data, to transform and combine.

The platform functions on JavaScript, which seamless functions with all major browsers and web framework. The Knockout library can be integrated with existing websites without major or massive rewrites.

PWABuilder

The quickest way to create a PWA is to use PWABuilder and quickly build a service worker for offline functionality, which works by pulling and serving the “offline.html” from your web server whenever users does not have connectivity to the internet. You can also submit your PWA to the app store for Android and iOS devices.

To use PWABuilder, all you need to do is insert your website’s URL and then fill in the additional details like your name, site description, and preferred icon. You can also easily modify certain properties such as your PWA’s screen orientation, language, and background color. The platform will later automatically generate a manifest based on the information you provide.

AngularJS

AngularJS lets you build HTML vocabulary for your application to ultimately build expressive, readable and quick to develop environment. Fully extensible and compatible with AngularJS toolset, AngularJS helps build the framework most suited to your application development. Every feature can be changed or replaced to meet your unique development workflow and feature needs.

For seasoned Java or .NET developer, AngularJS is one of the best JavaScript frameworks you can use for web applications. The website offers voluminous level of guides, tutorials, and resources that will help you learn your way around the platform.

Google Developers

PWA can be done with just about the right resources. And there is no better way of getting started then referring to Google Developers. Google provides a host of resources and tutorials on how to build Progressive web applications correctly.

For all those little experience in developing web applications, get a quick run through Google Developers, a library of resources that can help you learn how to code and build PWA.

GitHub

GitHub is a community-driven website that maintains repositories of projects covering a broad range of programming-related topics, including JavaScript and PWA service workers. In fact, you can find the PWA.rocks and Webpack repositories within the platform to help strengthen your understanding or even contribute to further development. GitHub now also has project management features, allowing you to seamlessly collaborate with other developers remotely.

Conclusion

PWAs ensure best experience with web apps on mobile devices by addressing some of the identified gaps. It’s worth understanding your enterprise mobile strategy to understand whether a PWA may be the right choice. A PWA can play a crucial role in supporting your enterprise’s digital transformation.