The web is constantly changing the way we use it. The introduction of HTML5, CSS3, and all their newest standards help developers to create applications that are more versatile than before. But now, with the advent of Progressive Web Apps (PWA), users can expect way more benefits than ever before. These apps are designed to be fully functional on numerous devices without sacrificing user experience or design. PWAs may bring all the benefits native apps provide and some new ones.
What Are Progressive Web Apps?
Progressive Web Apps are a new kind of web page or application, which has all the benefits of modern technology. Google invented the term in 2015, and it’s been gaining a lot of popularity among developers and users for several reasons. First, PWAs load faster than any other website because they don’t need to download a full desktop version every time users access them from their phones. This is due to the system’s ability to send resource files required for app pages right away without any delay. In return, this provides an instant navigation experience to the users with no annoying waiting bars or slow content loading alarms.
Second, PWAs provide a native-like interface, offline capability, and easy access from the computer’s home screen, which is why they’re called progressive and not static. All these features in PWA notifications provide an excellent opportunity to interact with users without being intrusive. They work right from the mobile’s notification center and immediately respond to the received messages or take other necessary actions, such as placing food or hotel orders and checking out flights’ availability.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Progressive Web Apps?
Here’s a quick overview of benefits you’ll receive when using PWAs:
Offline Usage
PWAs use local caching, which allows them to provide offline functionality – think of it as your website pre-downloaded and ready to access even when you don’t have an Internet connection or lost your data connection during navigation. You can do everything you usually do with the app (except features requiring an Internet connection like push notifications) and even save some steps because you won’t need to reload the whole page every time you visit again. Also, there’s no need to manually download an app version whenever a new one is released since PWA will do that automatically the next time you’re connected to the Internet.
Push Notifications (Mobile Only)
Instant-App describes an app that opens in seconds, performs smoothly, and then shuts down because it doesn’t require much memory. The main goal is to provide users with an app-like experience without installing anything on their devices. This app can be easily created as PWA – no installation required for users and instant load times for everyone else. A great thing about PWAs is to push notifications which work even when your device is not currently using your website or application. Once you are opt-in, you’ll receive messages from businesses right away instead of waiting until they appear outside of the browser – no need to check the site every 5 minutes to see if something new was just posted.
No App Store Submission Required
The real benefit of using PWAs is that Android users no longer need to download an app from Google Play since they already have a browser with the same functionality pre-installed on their devices. Also, iOS users can enjoy all the same features without having to download anything from Apple’s App Store either – you don’t have to wait until your business app is approved or even created to attract mobile customers. All it takes is one link, and people are seamlessly taken from Safari right into your application. Visitors from other platforms will be redirected automatically after providing a few permissions that allow push notifications and camera usage for QR codes.
App Indexing for Better Visibility
Even though it’s possible to create a link from the Google Search results page, which will take people straight into your mobile application just like before (previously known as App Deep Linking), it wasn’t easy to make it work without an actual app. But now, when you create a progressive web application, Google can index your content and make it possible to directly jump into certain features like the home page or product catalog in Safari on both iOS and Android platforms. This will improve user experience in Search results by making them more valuable. Instead of finding out about businesses through links that lead nowhere (and aren’t even working correctly), users can click on the ‘Go’ button next to these suggestions to be taken to the right where they want to go.
App Structure for Better Performance
There are some significant differences between mobile websites and applications that bring down your business if you neglect them when it comes to performance. Mobile crawlers are different than desktop ones which means that if you have a website without a proper structure, it will take them much more time to find the content and load it. This can easily lead to a lower page rank in SERPs, which is not what you want as a business owner. With progressive web applications using service worker scripts, content becomes much easier for crawlers to search through, which speeds up load times by several seconds or even minutes depending on how popular your website is. Also, these scripts run as background processes instead of HTML document rendering, which means that they’re less taxing on your device’s hardware.
Secure and Private Browsing
With PWA using HTTPS protocol instead of just HTTP, people can browse the web more securely than before. Plus, since developers had no say in how 3rd party applications were handling user data, many users had their privacy compromised by corporations seeking more information about them. But now, all of this is history thanks to service worker scripts running as background processes which means that every request sent from your device will be encrypted one way or another so nothing can be taken out of context.
Progressive web apps are great to use because you can get into them right away, they’re secure and private browsing, and the app platforms no longer have any say in how your business is run. All in all, there are many great things you can do with progressive web applications that weren’t possible before. And since you no longer have to wait for approval from App Platforms to get your ideas rolling, it’s the perfect time to start working on one.
