WHAT ARE PROGRESSIVE WEB APPS?
These are web applications that load like a regular web page or a normal website. They offer user functionalities like working offline, receive push notifications and access device hardware, which otherwise are available to only native mobile applications.

They are:

1. Reliable:

Progressive Web Apps pre-caches the key resources eliminating the dependency on the network, thereby, making sure that the users are able to get an instant and reliable experience. There is a service worker, which is a script written in JavaScript and it runs in the background separate from a webpage. It offers features which don’t require any web page or user interaction; for instance, push notifications and background sync.

2. Fast

In a research by Google, it was found that 53% of users will abandon a website if it takes 3 seconds to load or respond. Progressive web apps are fast and are able to enhance the overall performance. This will help the businesses to retain the users and improve conversions.

3. Engaging

Progressive web apps remain on the user’s home screen and don’t require app store. They are able to provide full-screen experience to the users by using the web app manifest file. The web app manifest is a JSON file which is used to instruct the browser about the web application and how it should behave when installing on the user’s mobile device or desktop. The web manifest file is necessary as Chrome requires it in order to show the prompt “Add to Home Screen”.

The web app manifest also helps the users control the appearance of the app and the way in which it is launched. It provides options allowing users to specify home screen icons as they wish; which page to be loaded when the app is launched, the orientation of the screen and whether to show the chrome browser or not on the screen.

Further, by sending the web push notifications, they can help in the re-engagement of the users.