A Beginner’s Guide to Progressive Web Apps

A Progressive Web App, also known as PWA, is a web app that “uses modern web capabilities to deliver an app-like experience.” It combines the best of both web apps and mobile apps. While it may be developed using web technologies, a PWA developed by a good app design agency feels and acts like a mobile app.

For instance, if you browse certain websites on your mobile browser, you might have come across a pop-up banner asking you if you want to add the website to your home screen. If you choose “Add to Home Screen”, then the “app” installs by itself in the background without you ever having to go to the app store in order to download it to your phone. After the installation is done, you can access the same content on the same platform in a similar experience, but this time through your phone without requiring a browser.

This is what a Progressive Web App is. It allows you to download a mobile app from a web application by combining the best of both worlds, and even works offline, similar to a native mobile app. This means that you can browse the content even if you do not have internet access.

What is the function of Progressive Web Apps?

Native mobile apps found in app stores are able to carry out certain functions like working offline, loading on the home screen, and sending push notifications. Apart from this, another key difference from web applications is that native mobile apps have that distinct experience of looking and feeling like an app.

However, browser mobile web apps, which can be accessed using a browser in mobile phones, do not have the qualities mentioned above. This is where Progressive Web Apps come in. When these apps are developed by a UI UX design company, a set of best practices is used to make web applications work and feel like native mobile apps from app stores.

User experiences are delivered through progressive enhancement by top UX design firms, which means that regardless of which system you use, you will still be able to access content easily and smoothly. Even if there are some features that may not be available, user experience is not compromised with a PWA. It allows the app to perform and function exactly the way it should.

So, in other words, the goal of a Progressive Web App is to be able to deliver an experience that is so smooth, seamless, and uniform that users cannot differentiate between a PWA and a native mobile app.