It’s no hidden fact that customers are becoming more reliant upon smartphones within their daily lives. As we become so reliant on smartphones, customers are increasingly unwilling to accept slow speeds, pernickety applications, and other problematic aspects of the mobile experience. The answer lies with Progressive Web Apps.

It is predicted that by next year, 2020, Progressive Web Apps will replace 50% of all consumer-facing native apps, according to Gartner Research.

What is a Progressive Web App?
A progressive web application, also known as PWA is a mobile web page that acts and feels like a regular native app. Just like a native app, a PWA can be accessed via the home screen of any smartphone. PWAs also share many functionalities of native apps and provide a nearly identical user experience while being reliable, incredibly fast and highly engaging. PWAs allow businesses to target a mass market and open to a new world of marketing possibilities.

What’s the benefit of a Progressive Web App?

• Responsive – A PWA will work on any device, on any size.
• Progressive – PWAs works with every browser because it’s built with progressive enhancement as a core tenet.
• Connectivity – Thanks to the use of Service Workers, PWAs do not depend on the network. Should the connection be of low-quality or even not available, a PWA will continue to work without any loss of user experience.
• App-like – Customers can continue to enjoy a true a native-app-experience, in terms of speed and User Interaction. Thanks to the the app shell model, the application functionality is separated from the content.
• Safe – HTTPS to provide SEO advantages, trust and protection from security breaches.
• Re-engage – Marketers can re-engage with customers easily through features like push notifications.
• Installable – Customers can add apps they find most useful to their home screen on their smartphones without the hassle of going through an app store while updates can be done directly from the server. Developers don’t have to get any updates approved as you would through the app store.
• Linkable – A PWA has an actual URL structure, making it easy to share the application via URL.

Apps historically provided a better experience than mobile web, but that has now changed. Businesses can now provide the same app-like experience of a native app to a much larger audience on the mobile web. The term Progressive Web App is not just a buzzword; it is changing the future of the web.

Who’s using PWAs?
Twitter, Starbucks, Flipboard, Uber, Pinterest, Alibaba, Instagram, Financial Times, Hobbycraft and Debenhams.

Conclusion
Businesses no longer need to create a traditional native-app that provides a fantastic experience or a separate website that’ll see more traffic – because you get the best of both worlds with a PWA. PWAs are going to be a game-changing solution because they offer the best of both the mobile web and native apps. PWAs deliver a faster and better experience for users on any mobile device while driving up engagement.

PWAs must not be ignored by a business looking for success in this ever-changing digital transformation – at least, those that don’t want to risk being left behind.