A blog on Progressive Web apps
This blog, more than it is about Progressive web Apps, is about how future could look in the face of advanced API’s and the whole mechanism behind making a website. According to Progressive Web App developer Henrik Joreteg, they are “the biggest thing to happen to the mobile web since the iPhone.”
What is a progressive web app?
A progressive web app is a web-app or native-app like facility without having to go through the downloading and installing that is necessary for native-apps. The best example would be ‘Flipkart Lite’
Basically, Progressive Web apps are a hybrid of regular web pages and mobile applications leveraging the best benefit out of both. In other words it is a technology driven to radically improve the user’s experience. Improve How? By being Reliable, Fast, and Engaging.
Progressive Web App developers are expected to build apps that are
- Reliable, also under uncertain network, and above all loads instantly.
- Fast, responding quickly and giving the user a fluid experience
- Engaging, giving the user ample information before asking back the same when appropriate and worth the value.
In developer’s world it is common knowledge that a well designed app is much faster than the website and consumes much lesser data. Progressive Web Apps could be thought of as just an enhancement of such native apps. Several features that differentiate the two are
Discoverability (search engines)
Linkability (to and from other sites)
Bookmarability (across all browsers that provide Progress Web App services)
Automatic Updatability (because of its reach to web)
Other guidelines or baselines that qualify a web app to be called a progressive web app are
- Responsiveness
The idea is that a progressive web app should be flawlessly responsive giving the user the utmost unhindered experience.
- Connectivity Independent
A user is able to use all or at least some functions of the Progressive web app while offline
- App-like-interaction
Native Apps are designed to provide the user with an interactive experience, engaging them as consistently as possible. Progressive Web Apps are able to give the same app-like experience to the user.
- Fresh (service worker update)
Progressive Web Apps gets updated behind the scene without asking for the user’s permission or having them go through the process of manually opting for update.
- Discoverable
A native web app is to be found out on the app store before downloading it and installing it on the device. Although, since native apps are rather customer-centric, are difficult to be discovered on search engines. Progressive Apps aren’t just packaged and developed through stores
- Re-engageable
Push notifications were a big win for web apps years back, the same is used by Progressive Web Apps today to get the user to re-engage with the web app.
- Installable
Here installable means that the user does not have to go through downloading and installing stages. The user can acquire the web app by browsing into the URL and stumble across the app-services the website provides. - Linkable
Progressive Web Apps are also linkable unlike native web apps, giving them enhanced accessibility through and by links from other URL’s.
In general, by definition
A progressive Web App must work on any given device and enhance progressively taking advantage of any features available on the device.
Progressive apps live within a website to begin with. When the website is accessed as a regular tab, the PWA shows up within the framework of the website and works in line with the experience generated by the website overall. PWA’s are built using Progressive App features including TLS, Service Workers, Manifests and Responsive designs.
When the user engages with the website and it’s PWA for the second time, it promptly asks the user if they want to ‘add it to their home screen’. The reason why this question is prompted on the second time the user visits the URL is that it means the user wants to or is ready to re- engage with the services provided by the website. This reduces the chances of a person adding it to their ‘home screen’ and never using it or deleting it straight away after the first use.
Once the user accepts to add the PWA to the device’s home screen, the app shortcut or launcher of the operating system appears on it. When launched from the home screen, the Progressive Web App behaves and appears just like a native app, including all its intended features.
The user can receive push notifications depending on the functionality of the PWA, the PWA can work offline without the updated data while operating just as quickly as an app would. PWA’s can also use features of the device given access.
What it means to the businesses?
A detailed report on mobile marketing by Jessica Smith, a research analyst at the BI Intelligence.
- As consumers spend a lot more time on their mobile devices, marketing campaigns are complying with suit. Mobile ad spend continues to lag mobile time spent, providing an opportunity for creative marketers.
- Marketers ought to leverage various mobile tactics depending on the size and demographics of the audience they wish to reach and the kind of message they wish to send. along with every one of tactics, marketers should respect the personal nature of the mobile device and pay focus to the potential for communication overload.
- Mobile messaging — particularly SMS and email — has actually the broadest reach and highest adoption among mobile users. Messaging apps, relative newcomers yet gaining fast in popularity, supply a lot more innovative and engaging outreach options.
- Emerging technology, such as dynamic creative optimization, is breathing brand-new life into mobile browser-based ad campaigns, yet marketers ought to maintain an eye on consumer adoption of mobile ad blockers.
- In-app advertising can easily produce higher engagement rates, especially along with video. Location-based apps and beacons supply added data that can easily improve targeting capabilities.
All in all Progressive Web Apps are there to give better user engagement, increase conversion, and increase traffic. Say hello to the future.
