Disadvantages of traditional web/mobile apps

Many companies find that developing, testing, and maintaining applications for several platforms is too expensive. Especially if the apps in question are built for internal use to boost the company processes. According to the analytics firm Gartner, in 2019, even 20% of companies will abandon their native mobile apps. Instead, they are most likely to invest in Progressive Web Apps.

Here are a few more reasons why PWA offer such an excellent alternative to traditional web and mobile applications:

• Development cost - Companies choose web or hybrid apps instead of native applications primarily because the latter are much more costly to build. By developing a web app like PWA, you can build one application that works well on all platforms your target audience uses. You don't need to build and maintain two development teams with different skill sets.
• Distribution effort - Building a web application instead of a native one means that you don't need to worry about distributing binaries and maintaining backward compatibility in your service APIs. You simply have one version of the application.
• Friction and poor conversion - Native and hybrid applications are distributed through centralized application stores like the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. To install your application on their mobile devices, users will first need to find it in the sore. And if your app isn't part of the top 20 in your category, this will be difficult. Another option is creating a landing page on the web to convince users to download your app. But accomplishing that takes a lot of effort and creates friction in the user experience as users need to go through all the steps like finding your app, pressing the 'Install' button, accepting permission checks, authenticating, and then waiting for the download. Each step decreases the conversion rate by 20%. A Progressive Web App is much more accessible - a user can find it online or receive a link to it, and it's done, they can start using your app instantly.

Are Progressive Web Apps the future of web development?

Web developers are on a quest to find a responsive web design approach that allows displaying the website on mobile devices seamlessly, without having to maintain a mobile-specific version of that website.

However, responsive web design often fails to meet the expectations of users who access content from different mobile devices that come with different window or screen sizes. So far, responsive web design couldn't use progressive improvement to deliver native features to apps accessed on any device. PWA makes that possible with the help of services workers that offer a rich collection of design considerations together with responsiveness.

PWAs are the future of web development because the progressive app framework:

• Offers a smart method for dealing with change,
• Enables push notifications that increase user engagement,
• Can work online and offline (as well as other states, like network problems),
• Can be made accessible easily.

Here's what the market looks like today for PWA. All Android devices are PWA-compatible. Microsoft is building its next-generation apps such as Outlook and Teams as PWA. Apple has implemented support for PWA in Safari 11.1 and iOS 11.3.

Hire progressive app developers

Progressive Web Apps are developed using brand-new new technologies, but they're in wide use across different industries. Some of the most significant examples of successful PWAs are apps developed by Starbucks, Lyft, The Washington Post, Uber, Twitter, and Forbes.

Our team has plenty of experience in building Progressive Web Apps for clients operating in different industries. We know how to build a Progressive Web App that offers optimal performance and captivating user experience to align with your key business objectives. If you're looking to create a Progressive Web App, we're the team you need.

Get in touch with us to receive a quote for your project and expert advice about the benefits of PWA development.