Progressive Web Apps: A new dimension to web development.

Progressive apps are the future of web applications development. This concept brought the promise of providing an experience that combined the very best qualities of the web and native apps. PWA (or a Progressive Web Application) is an app within your browser, displayed as a website. It’s not something that you should download and install from Google Play or the App Store.

Let us take a detailed look at progressive web apps.

Integral features of PWAs

Progressive web apps possess some exclusive features.

• First and foremost, progressive web apps run on all platforms and browsers as the name progressive suggests.
• Progressive web apps can function well in absence of an internet connection. Developers can also easily define and control the offline behavior of a progressive web app.
• PWAs are responsive and ideal for all form factors.
• PWAs are protected by SSL encryption so that all data exchange that takes place from the browser is secure.
• PWAs are recognized as “applications” as per W3C manifests.
• Re-engagement is straightforward with PWAs as they can be used to send push notifications to users.
• PWAs can be saved on your device home screen without any complex installation procedures. It can be simply launched from your home screen in a browser.
• PWAs can be shared easily through URLs without resorting to other data transfer technologies and third-party apps.

Structure and technologies involved in progressive web app development:

Progressive web app development for the entirety takes place with JavaScript, HTML 5 and open web standards. A progressive web app can be structured into two main components :

An app shell and a service worker.

An app shell is the app-like container of a PWA, which imparts the app-like look to the PWA when it launches from the browser. The app shell contains the minimum amount of Javascript and HTML5 in action to provide the user with an interactive app structure. It essentially is like a container that holds the content of your app. It contains interactive features to enhance your content and also certain features to facilitate predictive behavior in order to create a personalized experience for the user. The app-shell doesn’t feature a URL search bar like most of the websites do.

A service worker is a script running in the browser background that helps the PWA to perform caching and manage content delivery networks. It is with the help of a service worker that PWAs can run offline. It deals with the browser requests and enables to load cached content for the app. It helps the app stay up to date.

Functionality that eclipses both native and hybrid apps:

PWAs showcase features from both web apps and native apps, however progressive app development follows an entirely different approach than that for native and hybrid app development.

l The code used for progressive app development remains the same irrespective of the device and platform. The code is standard for all platforms, unlike native apps where developers have to use the entirely different set of resources and code to create an app for specific platforms like Android or iOS.

l PWAs don’t feature any traces of native apps in terms of development, in contrast to hybrid apps which feature a mix of native apps and javascript.

l PWAs don’t require any memory space to run in comparison to native apps that take up significant portions of memory. Which also makes PWAs faster loading than native apps.

l PWAs are identified by Google as “applications” and their search engine presence can be easily enhanced using SEO tactics, unlike native apps whose acclaim depends on app store downloads, stats, and reviews.

Now that you have a clear picture of progressive web apps, let us get into how they can benefit you. For more details check out our progressive web app development services at Technoscore. You can get in touch with us at [email protected]