Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) offer a user-friendly experience with the advantages of reliability, speed, and engagement, outperforming traditional native apps in several key areas, including ease of updates and cross-platform functionality. Case studies show significant improvements in user engagement and conversion rates, highlighting the benefits of PWAs compared to native apps, which face high installation friction and low user retention. However, PWAs still lack access to certain device features and require enhancements to address user needs fully.

1. Progressive Web Apps:
Bridging The Gap
Nitheesh T Ganesh
iamntg@gmail.com

2. Contents
 Overview of PWA
 Native Apps Vs PWA
 PWA Baseline Implementation
 Case Studies
 Lacking Features
 PWA - Wish lists
 Conclusion

3. Overview of PWA

4. Overview
 Progressive Web Apps are user experiences
that have the reach of the web
 Reliable - Load instantly and never show the
downasaur
 Fast - Respond quickly to user interactions
 Engaging - Feel like a natural app on the device

5. Overview

6. Native Apps Vs PWA

7. Native Apps Vs PWA
Native PWA
o Easy to launch
o Immediate Value
o Offline
o Slow Connections
o Push Notifications
o Device-Access
o No installation
o Cross-Platform
o Easy Deployment
o Easy to update
o Searchable
o Links/ Bookmarks

8. Native Apps Vs PWA
 Native apps face two gigantic hurdles trying to compete with PWAs:
 Need to build only one app that works for android, iOS and web.
 App install friction is suffocating native apps.

9. Native Apps Vs PWA
90%
72%
60%
45%
40%
25%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
USERS
 It takes about 6 clicks to install a
native app
 Every Step Costs You around 20%
of Users

10. Native Apps Vs PWA
 Why Native Apps are a Gamble?
 60% of apps in the Google Play/App store have never been downloaded.
 The average user downloads less than 3 apps per month.
 Half of US smartphone users download zero apps per month.
 94% of app revenue comes from 1% of publishers, and users spend 80% of their time using
just 5 apps.
 80% of users who download an app fail to become active users.

11. PWA Baseline Implementation

12. PWA Baseline Implementation
Required Recommended
o HTTPS + Service Worker
o Web App Manifest
o App shell caching
o Splash screen
o Smooth navigation
o Cross browser support
o Push notifications
o Advanced Offline Support

13. PWA Baseline Implementation
 Client-side proxy written in JavaScript
 Can intercept requests
 Can decide to go idle or to re-activate
themselves
 Safari and Edge support is still in Development
 Must use HTTPS
Service Workers

14. PWA Baseline Implementation
 Shell is cached using service worker
 Uses cached data from indexedDB or any
other web storage
 Updates cached view with online data when
loaded
 Cached shell can load instantly on repeat
visits.
App Shell

15. PWA Baseline Implementation
 Rich native presence on user’s home screen
 Launch app in full-screen mode
 Control the screen orientation for optimal
viewing
 Define “splash screen” launch, theme colour
for site
Web App Manifests {
"short_name": "My Cool App",
"name": "My Totally Cool Application",
"icons":[
{"src": "launcher-icon-3x.png",
"sizes": "192x192",
"type": "image/png"},
{"src": "launcher-splash.png",
"sizes": "512x512",
"type": "image/png"}],
"start_url": "index.html",
"display": "standalone",
"background_color" : "#aeaeae",
"theme_color" : "#aeaeae",
"orientation" : "landscape"
}

16. PWA Baseline Implementation
 User who visits 2x in a given time
period will be prompted with “add
to home screen”
 One tap to add to home screen
 Opens full screen by showing splash
screen on load (no URL bar)
Web App Manifests

17. PWA Baseline Implementation
 Show content when on flaky networks
 Store data locally using service workers
 Local Stroage, WebSQL or IndexedDB
 Use an abstraction, like PouchDB
 Caching Pattern
 Cache only or Network only
 Try cache first, then network
 Try network first, then cache
Offline

18. PWA Baseline Implementation
 App can request Background Sync
 Service Worker triggers Sync Event when it is
appropriate (Network, Battery…)
 Also plans for periodic Background Sync
Background Sync

19. PWA Baseline Implementation
 System level notifications, like apps
 Register/Receive push notification using service worker
 Ask to notify users with specific information
 Can send notifications even when page closed
Push Notifications

20. PWA Baseline Implementation
 For first-time visitors, load pages in <10s on 3G connections
 For repeat visitors, instant loading of page in <500 milliseconds
 Always scrolling at 60 frames/second
 Content shouldn’t jump as images are loaded
Instant loading and smooth navigation

21. Case Studies

22. Case Studies
 3x time spent on site, from 1 minute to 3.5 minutes
 Seeing 40% visitors return week over week
 70% greater conversion rate among those arriving via “Add to
Homescreen”
 3X lower data usage
Flipkart

23. Case Studies
 76% more web conversions
 30% more monthly active users on Android, 14% more on iOS
 4X higher interaction rate from “Add to Homescreen”
Alibaba

24. Case Studies
 38% more conversions
 40% lower bounce rate
 10% longer average session
 30% faster page load
Housing.com

25. Lacking Features

26. Lacking Features
 Contacts, calendar and browser bookmarks access (lack of access to these could be viewed
as a feature by privacy-conscious users)
 Alarms
 Telephony features - intercept SMS or calls, send SMS/MMS, get the user's phone number,
read voice mail, make phone calls without the Dialler dialog
 Low-level access to some hardware features and sensors: flashlight, atmospheric pressure
sensor
 System access: Task management, modifying system settings, logs

27. PWA - Wish lists

28. PWA - Wishlists
 Automatic grant of permissions for Push notification when added to home screen.
 Events to instrument uninstalls
 Deduping between native and web app from the same publisher (Push notification)
 Deep linking into the installed web app
 Some equivalent of Device ID
 More top browsers including progressive features
 Discoverability on the store as well on the user’s phone

29. Conclusion

30. Conclusion
If you target the Next Billion Users, PWAs are the way to go
If you are planning for a product, Traditionally, you’d have to build
You can, right now, in most cases, just build
And once Safari implements Service Worker, it will be just
Desktop/Mobile web + Native Android + Native iOS
PWA + Native iOS app
PWA

31. Thank You!