Native mobile apps can be great experiences for your clients if they’re implemented correctly, but they can be challenging for a variety of reasons
- Developing for multiple platforms (iOS, Android and whatever the next great leap brings us)
- Maintaining consistent experiences on different screen sizes
- Complying with the different and evolving interface and security requirements of the platforms
- Rebuilding and re-submitting the app for approval by the different mobile app marketplaces
An increasingly attractive alternative that avoids many of the pitfalls listed above is the relatively new concept of the PWA or Progressive Web App.
The PWA is an evolving web standard that is increasingly supported by the major mobile platforms, allowing you to provide your visitors with a more focused “full screen” experience, and also optionally take advantage of some of the features of the mobile device, including:
- Using the app offline
- Storing data locally on the device
- Instant updates, independent of app marketplaces
- Geolocation functions
- Sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope etc)
- Camera
- Audio output
- Speech recognition/synthesis
You may have even used a PWA without realizing it – if you’ve ever been asked to add a website to your home screen and accepted, you have installed and used a PWA.
Major companies are even on board with this technology, including:
- Starbucks
- Forbes
- Flipkart
If you’d like to talk about building a progressive web app for your business, or adapting your current web experience to be used as a PWA, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email.