Users spend 87% of their time on the native app versus 13% of their time on the mobile web. Usage of mobile phone increasing day by day. Currently, 5.20 billion people are using the phone worldwide. The advancement in mobile technology and the spread of the internet opens many doors for online apps. The increase in usage of mobile phones would lead to, increase in the use of apps. Where would web-based app stand in future then?
But wait, there is a flip side to it. Apps are a big commitment for users. An app requires time, space and money. An average user installs zero apps per month. Zero...? Yes, you heard it right. Also, app usage is highly concentrated; it means, a user generally spends all his time to top 3 apps. But the same user opens 100 different web URLs on their mobile browser monthly. It opens a big door for the web.
Opening a web URL on the mobile phone is not costly, as it does not require space, money and commitment. But the experience of accessing the web may be frustrating because of the speed and the missing native feel. Google has found out that 53% of mobile visitors abandon sites if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Now let's list the advantage of both apps and the web.
Advantage of using Native App:
- Apps are more predictable
- Easy to find on the home screen
- Push notification engages users
- Device memory and offline capability
- Access to the native feature of mobile like camera, microphone, etc
- background sync
Advantage of Web:
- Wider reach
- You can target multiple platforms like- desktop, tablets, android, ios
- Resposive design
- Do not use device memory
- It reduces development time and cost
- Maintenance is not costly.,
What if we combine the advantage of both. What if a web is installable and accessible to the home screen with one tap. What if it engages users with push notifications. What if it could access the device native feature like camera and microphone. Is not it great? All these things are possible now using progressive web app PWA.
By convertig our web app to a PWA app we can fill those missing gaps and give user a native app like feeling.
Advantage of PWA app
- Wider audience
- You can target Multiple platforms
- Save time & cost
- Do not require space for installation
- One tap access to the web on homes screen,
- Push notifications,
- Save data on device memory,
- Sync the data in the background
- use the native features of mobile, like- microphone & camera
There are more reasons to go for a PWA app.
Success Stories
The best-known success story is probably that of Flipkart Lite. India's largest e-commerce site was rebuilt as a progressive web app in 2015, which resulted in 70% increase in conversions. The AliExpress PWA has also seen much better results than either the web or the native app, with a 104% increase in conversion rates for new users.
Success story of Twitter Lite PWA
Twitter Lite PWA significantly increased users engagement and reduced data usage after it is launched. Below are the stats of Twitter Lite.
- 65% increase in pages per session
- 75% increase in Tweets sent
- 20% decrease in bounce rate
Top companies who are using PWA apps
- Twitter Lite
- Alibaba
- Uber
- Flipkart
- Bookmyshow
- makemytrip
- Housing.com
- Spotify
- Trivago
Conclusion:
By using PWA app we can load the web fater, it gives almost native app like feeling. We can optimise first render of the page using caching and other
optimisation techniques. This will decrese the bounce rate of the user. Push notification can bring more traffic to the page.
Background sync and cache capability will make
the app more reliable and predictable. If your requirememnt is not very heavy on th native features of the mobile then definately you can go ahead with
PWA app.
NOTE: PWA is still being adapted by the browsers however it is available in all recent browsers. PWA currently works
only upon Safari Browsers, not in IOS chrome. We never know, we can see support from almost all browsers in the coming days .
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