Progressive web apps are a combination of the traditional mobile app with the web browsing experience. They are web-based applications specially designed to work on any device—smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.

In other words, if you were viewing it on a laptop, the progressive web app would behave like a regular website, whereas mobile users would get an actual app-like experience with the same app.

Progressive web apps are the ones that offer an immersive full-screen experience, live on the user’s home screen, respond quickly to user interactions, and load instantly, despite the network state.                           

Google, the creator of PWAs, ensures that the content only has to be made once and not separately for Android, iOS, and website or any other platforms with this concept. The UX will accordingly be optimized for the device on which the user is using PWA so that the functionalities come out best.

Key Characteristics of PWAs

It is easy to differentiate a progressive web application from a traditional web application when you know the critical features of the PWA:

Access to Mobile APIs-

A web application with access to standard functionalities such as Bluetooth, GPS, camera, microphone, etc., makes it possible to solve more complex problems.

PWAs can interact with your mobile device hardware and have several features and standard functionalities like push notifications—functionalities that are usually linked with traditional native mobile apps.

Fast and Data Effective-

The pre-caching functions minimize the dependency on the network to a limited extent. PWA allows for less data usage and faster load time than a traditional mobile-optimized website.

Connectivity Independent-

PWAs pre-cache some of the critical resources and data needed to run the app even without an internet connection. It means some parts of the app may remain functional even if your device runs out of cellular coverage.

Since only a fraction of its data will be stored locally, you need to have a working internet connection to access all PWA features.

Installable-

PWAs are easy to install and consume very little storage space on your device compared to traditional mobile apps. They are consistently accessible via an icon on the screen of your device.

You can add the icon of a PWA without going through installing it from the Apple Store or Play Store. Open any browser on your device and visit the PWA. Now tap add to the home screen button, and you’ll get the icon of the website on your device’s home screen.