How to Develop PWA: All You Need To Know Before Creating a Progressive Web App

Author: Alexey Porubay

PWA is a hot topic in software development for a couple years. The reasons for such PWA popularity is easily explained. If we go back a couple of years ago, it must have been a dream to combine together the power of native mobile applications and websites. But times have changed and all dreams come true. PWA brings together the best sides of native and web applications.If you finally decided to jump on a bandwagon and create a progressive web app, we will provide you with the most essential information you should definitely know to build PWA.https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/how-to-build-a-progressive-web-app-best-tools-and-examples

What is PWAIt is a quite new application type introduced by Google in 2015. Being somewhere between web and native apps, PWA is a mix of the best sides of both approaches. PWA was first available only for Android users. In March 2018, PWAs finally became available on iOS 11.3.On its official website, Google listed the following progressive apps features:

  • Responsive. These applications must provide an excellent user experience for all screens and platforms.
  • Progressive. Such a tautology, but progressive web apps must be progressive. It means that every user can work with these apps no matter what browser they use. Progressive enhancement strategy stands at the core of this approach. According to this strategy, the most essential content comes first.
  • Works regardless of connection. Service workers provide people with an ability to use progressive web applications regardless of Internet connection. Application of this type can work offline or with a bad internet connection.
  • Fresh. Again, thanks to service workers the latest updates are downloaded simultaneously when the PWA is opened.
  • Secure. PWA must be served only via HTTPS in order to protect the security and privacy of its users.
  • Discoverable. PWA is not only indexed in search engines but also gets higher ranks there.
  • Installable and linkable. Users have no need to install PWA via app stores. That is a great news formobile developers
    • you have no need to wait for approval on Play Market or App Store. Users can easily add it to a home screen and share it with friends by simply sending a link to the web app.
  • Re-engageable. In contrast with web applications, PWA is able to send push notifications. We will talk about it later.
So, what PWA has in common with its predecessors? Begin with web apps. Developers use HTML, CSS, and JS to create a PWA. It also works via a browser and can be easily displayed on desktops and laptops. As for native apps, PWA inherited the possibility to send push notifications, get access to some device features and an ability to work offline.But in contrast with them, PWA takes much less time to load and fast in use. Comparing with a native app, it doesn't require downloading from app stores, hence is easier to launch and share. It is much faster and easier to build, so it is cheaper than building a native app. If we compare it with a website, it provides better UX, can work offline and is much more secure. What's more, PWA is lightweight. Take Pinterest as an example. You see, the results speak for themselves.