We’re happy to announce that we have a new managing partner on board – Rami Wazni. With over two decades of experience in the software development industry, Wazni will be responsible for overseeing Appstronauts’ North American division and helping to increase our presence in the region.
With geolocation, you offer extra value to your app’s users and increase the competitive advantage. And it’s super easy to implement with Ionic. Discover what are the benefits and how to do it.
Progressive Web Apps are, putting it simply, web pages in mobile apps’ shells. They provide similar functionalities and user interactions to the best native apps but are a lot cheaper, and the development runs much faster. What defines a Progressive Web App? What unique functionalities does it have? Find out how can it be beneficial for you.
Progressive Web Apps are mobile apps delivered through the web. In other words, they are web apps displayed through a browser which use modern web capabilities to provide the look and experience of a mobile app. Progressive Web Apps combine the best of the apps and the best of the web. They simply evolve from pages in a browser to mobile apps, and they maintain the web’s low friction, which is a considerable advantage of the web. Above all, a mobile app shell enables the same gestures and navigation, which we can find in native apps. Therefore, Progressive Web Apps provide functionalities and user interface similar to the best native apps. What is more, they are deployed on servers, are accessible through URLs and indexed by search engines.
Compare Trivago webpage on the left to the Progressive Web App on the right:
Every Progressive Web App has to meet some requirements. Google has defined a specific set of characteristics which determine an app as a progressive one.
Progressive — that means, that a PWA has to work perfectly on every device possible and regardless of the browser being used. A native app experience should be available to users with newer versions of the browsers which support the technologies for Progressive Web Apps. However, users with older browsers should still have a standard experience.
Responsive — it has to fit perfectly with any form factor and every device’s screen. In consequence, a PWA should provide the best and equivalent user experience on mobile, desktop, tablet, and every possible device.
Network independent — that app should be connectivity independent. A PWA should work in areas with low internet connection and even where the connection is not available. Thanks to Service Workers a Progressive App can work offline or with a weak connection.
App-like — a PWA is made with an app shell. As a result, it should provide app-like navigation and interactions. It needs to respond quickly with minimal page refreshes. The experience connected to scrolling, transitions or animations should be smooth. When a user displays a PWA at full screen, launching it from a home screen, it doesn’t have any URL bar or forward and backward banners provided by a browser.
Compare Flipkart Progressive Web App on the left and the mobile app on the right:
Fresh — a PWA should be always up to date. Updates are easy because a user doesn’t need to download the newest version from an app store. Service Workers provide them. After the publication of the new content, it displays in our app the moment a user connects to the internet.
Secure — we serve every Progressive Web App through the HTTPS connection and SSL encryption. That secures all the sensitive data our application needs to process.
Discoverable — A Progressive Web App is served by the web. As a consequence, users can find it in search engines. It is possible thanks to a service worker registration scope. That is one of the most significant advantages of Progressive Web Apps over native mobile apps.
Re-engageable — that kind of app is highly engageable thanks to push notifications it sends to a user. A PWA uses service workers and the push API to deliver notifications and updates, which increases the engagement.
Installable — a Progressive Web App should be easily added to a home screen without the need to download it from app stores. When it’s installed on the device’s home screen, a user can launch it immediately, so he perceives it like any other app on his device.
Linkable and easy to share — the app doesn’t require installation so can be easily shared through URL. A user simply clicks a link and gains access to the content. Therefore, anyone with a web browser has access to the application.
A Progressive Web App begins its life as a regular browser tab. We build it using special features like TLS, Service Workers, Manifests and responsive design, and that is what makes it progressive. What wakes its superpowers is visiting the web page for a couple of times. The second, third or fourth visit raises its abilities. As a result, a browser shows a prompt to a user. After that, a user can decide if he wants to keep the app on the screen or app launcher. When launched from the home screen, these apps are at the top of their abilities. Above all, they’re full screen, top-level, can work offline, send relevant push notifications, and load quickly even on slow networks.
See how notifications look like:
It’s crucial that browsers send notifications when users engage with Progressive Web Apps. What is more, it doesn’t happen during the first visit so as not to be spammy. The user has to build a relationship with the app progressively. As a consequence, an app becomes powerful over time, earning the right to send notifications.
There are a few Progressive Web Apps’ qualities and advantages (also over native mobile apps) which make it beneficial to the business. Below we present the most important ones:
Progressive Web Apps are user-friendly, engageable and easy to access. If we add low costs and the speed of development to these qualities, we get a compelling product. It allows, especially for startups, to get ahead of the competition and obtain a great app which enables to expand a reach fast.
At Appstronauts we will be glad to help you to make your dream come true and create a fast and reliable Progressive Web App with a flawless user experience, which will fit your market perfectly and allow you to get ahead of the competition.
Create your first Progressive Web App with Appstronauts! Send a short description of the project to hello@appstronauts.co and make your dream come true!
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If you want to achieve success with your app, all the signs point that you should invest in building a Progressive Web App.
If you want to create an app for your new startup or existing business, you may wonder if a Progressive Web App is the right development direction.
