Staying ahead in the market and delivering a top-notch user experience on both mobile and web applications have always been a costly affair. However, with progressive web app frameworks, you can develop native-like mobile apps with web app development technologies. A progressive web app framework makes the browsing experience seamless and brings in more conversions even with slow internet connections. With progressive app frameworks, users get the accessibility of a web app and the functionality of a mobile app.
The apps built using progressive app frameworks have the key to unlocking success in a world that is driven by user experience. The success of progressive web application (PWA) development lies in choosing the right framework. In this article, we will delve into various aspects of progressive web applications and find out which is the best framework for progressive web apps. Let’s begin with the basics.
What are Progressive Web Apps?
A progressive web application is like a native mobile app but is developed using web app development technologies, i.e., CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. The PWAs are intended to work on any device and platform that has a standard web browser, considering both mobile and desktop devices.
Progressive web applications bridge the gap between native mobile apps and web applications. Since PWA is ultimately a web application, it doesn’t require distinct distribution or bundling. Furthermore, developers are not restricted to setting up web applications through digital distribution platforms like Google Play or Apple App Store.
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Features of a PWA:
The major benefit of PWA over native-mobile applications is that they are intended to work on any device or browser as they are built with proper web standards. As with many cross-platform resolutions, the aim is to aid developers in developing cross-platform apps more effortlessly than they would with native applications. Here are the major features of a PWA:
a. Receptive:
PWAs are suitable for any form factor – mobile, desktop, or tablet.
b. Advanced:
These apps can work for all users, irrespective of the browser, utilizing advanced technologies.
c. Easy Connectivity:
PWAs are built using service workers, which allows accessibility of data on low-quality networks or offline usages.
d. Cache storage makes PWA faster:
After the preliminary loading gets completed, the same page elements aren’t required to load again and again.
e. Updated:
It is always up-to-date as it works on the web, unlike the native mobile app, which requires updating manually.
f. Native-feel:
The users get the experience of a native mobile application.
g. Re-engagement factor:
You can send push notifications to users through a PWA to preserve engagement
h. Safe & Secure:
PWAs are served via HTTP to avert interference and guarantee that the content has not been meddled with.
i. Linkable:
PWAs can be shared through URL easily and don’t require any difficult installation.
j. Easy to install:
It provides home screen icons without the usage of an app store.
k. Cost-Effective:
You can save money as the mobile app development cost is generally much higher than the PWA app development cost.
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Why Should You Invest in PWA Development?
Here are some interesting statistics that show the power of PWA and answer your question:
1. The Starbucks PWA has increased daily active users 2x. Orders on the desktop are at nearly the same rate as on mobile.
2. Streaming Platform ZEE5 launched its PWA to expand its reach. The PWA is 3x faster and reduces buffering time by 50%.
3. Kubota launched their e-commerce PWA, which resulted in a 192% growth in daily visitors and a 26% growth in average monthly visits.
4. After launching its PWA, Thomas Kent lowered its bounce rate by 57% and increased the revenue from organic traffic by 79%.
Best Frameworks for Progressive Web Apps:
If you are looking for mobile app development companies with expertise in native and cross-platform app development, you must ask them if they also provide PWA app development services. The PWA will be cost-effective and will take less to go to market. These are the top progressive web app frameworks:
1. Ionic Framework:
In 2013, the Drifty Co. created the Ionic framework, and by 2015, Ionic developers had created over 1.3 million applications using this SDK. Ionic is an absolute open-source framework for progressive web application development. It provides all the required tools and services for the development of hybrid mobile apps using technologies like CSS, HTML5, and Sass.
What makes Ionic the best framework for progressive web apps is its usage of technology by service workers. The service workers power the offline functionality, push notifications, background content updating, content caching, and more.
Ionic app developers work with over 120 native device features such as HealthKit, Fingerprint Authorization, and Bluetooth, along with Cordova plugins and typescript extensions; it allows mobile app developers the utmost ease of developing advanced mobile apps.
Top Features:
· Easier team collaboration due to shared database
· Easy customization to match brand guidelines
· Responsive design principles for various screen sizes
· Lower learning curve for web developers
· Easier integration with web-based backend services
2. Polymer:
Built by Google, Polymer is an open-source PWA framework with an extensive variety of web components, templates, and development tools. It empowers mobile app developers to create custom HTML elements known as web components. These reusable code components can be seamlessly integrated into Progressive Web Apps, enhancing their functionality and user experience.
The modular architecture of Polymer and its optimized components help create lightweight and efficient progressive web apps. Thus, the resultant load time is quite less, resulting in a better user experience.
Polymer also ensures that the developed PWAs are always compatible with a range of browsers. Thus, the users will get a consistent user experience across different devices and platforms. It is best suited for projects that require modularity and adherence to web standards.
Top Features:
· Build reusable UI elements that can be easily combined to construct complex PWAs
· Prioritizes the usage of native web technologies, leading to better performance and compatibility
· Lightweight in nature, resulting in fast loading times
· Developers with experience in HTML, CSS, and JS can easily work with the Polymer framework
3. AngularJS:
Google created another popular framework, AngularJS, which helps in building sophisticated web applications. It provides powerful tools for development and supports TypeScript, which is a rich UI component library. Thus, the PWA developers find it easy to develop complex PWAs with AngularJS.
Furthermore, AngularJS utilizes a virtual DOM. It helps improve PWA performance and delivers a native-like experience, even during peak traffic times. When you create an Angular project, you can easily convert it into a PWA with minimal configuration. Angular provides a service worker out of the box, which is the backbone of any PWA. As we mentioned above, service workers provide features like offline access, caching, and background sync.
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Top Features:
· AngularJS is relatively accessible for developers, even those with limited JavaScript experience.
· It supports a variety of web application types including SPAs, MPAs, mobile apps, and web apps based on MVP architecture, dependency injection, and expression architecture.
· Create fast-loading and responsive web applications.
· SEO friendly, i.e., applications built with AngularJS can rank well in search engine results, improving their visibility.
4. Vue.js:
Vue is a popular open-source framework with a robust platform for developing high-performance Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). It offers high versatility and flexibility to suit various web development projects, from simple applications to complex enterprise solutions.
It also utilizes a virtual DOM, which improves the rendering efficiency and contributes to creating scalable and responsive PWAs. Vue.js also integrates easily with browser downloads and server-side rendering, making it a popular choice among PWA developers.
Additionally, Vue.js supports a component-based architecture by which the PWA developers can divide intricate user interfaces into smaller, reusable parts. Apart from improving code maintainability, this modular approach is in complex harmony with PWA principles, which allow components to be streamlined and reused across different application areas.
Top Features:
· Seamless Integration of Service Workers
· DOM implementation minimizes unnecessary re-renders
· Provides a centralized store to store application data
· Create single-page applications with smooth and dynamic navigation
5. React:
Developed by Facebook, the React framework has revolutionized web and mobile application development. This PWA development framework places a strong emphasis on dynamic and interactive user interfaces. React, a leading force in web development ensures broad applicability by extending its capabilities to mobile app development and making it easier to produce captivating web pages.
Top Features:
· Large Community Support
· An extensive ecosystem
· A greater degree of scalability and flexibility
· Speedy rendering using Virtual DOM
6. Magento PWA Studio:
Offered by Adobe, Magento PWA Studio offers various tools for PWA developers to create, deploy, and maintain a PWA storefront on Magento 2.3 and later Magento versions. Online merchants can quickly and cost-effectively launch the mobile storefront of their e-commerce store.
The Magento PWA Studio utilizes modern libraries and tools to develop a framework aligned with Magento’s extensibility principles. It provides ready-to-use PWA solutions for web development, ensuring smooth operation without code conflicts.
If you already have an e-commerce store in Magento, then this is the best framework that we recommend for creating a PWA version of your online store. It offers a very streamlined integration into Magento.
Top Features:
· Service Worker setup is already implemented
· Minimal tweaking is required in routing and caching solutions
· Provides a wide range of ready-made site elements
· Pre-configured application builder
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7. ScandiPWA:
The largest Magento PWA store in the world is powered by ScandiPWA.By adding all of the fantastic features offered by PWA technology, such as instant loading time, home screen app save, offline mode, push notifications, the ability to launch your store on the App Store and Google Play stores, open source, native app look and feel, and many more, ScandiPWA enables you to improve your current Magento store.
Top Features:
· A smart caching layer is present between the user and the database to enable faster content delivery.
· Uses a single data exchange interface, i.e., GraphQL, which makes it highly developer-friendly
· Allows you to get PWA on the same infrastructure
8. Svelte:
Svelte is a JS-based PWA framework for building advanced user interfaces. It is a lightweight PWA framework with a developer-friendly interface, and it produces a small code bundle that loads quickly. Svelte is also designed to be easy to learn. Thus, it is a great choice for developers who are new to PWA app development.
Top Features:
· Easy to create lightweight PWAs that can scale up quickly
· Small code bundles that are easy to download and install
· Simple and easy-to-use syntax
9. Preact:
The Preact framework is similar to the React framework but smaller and faster. The PWA framework is easy to use, which makes it a first choice for developers who are new to web development. It provides the thinnest possible Virtual DOM abstraction on top of the DOM. It builds on stable platform features, registers real event handlers, and plays nicely with other libraries.
Top Features:
· The small size ensures that less JS is required to download, parse, and execute
· Fastest virtual DOM libraries
· Portable and Embeddable
· Instantly Productive
Conclusion:
In this article, we have gone through the best PWA development frameworks. PWA offers various advantages over traditional websites as they have a native-app-like interface. Still, if you want to go for native mobile apps for your business, you must take Mobile app development services.
At Octal IT Solutions, we provide the best on-demand mobile and PWA app development services to satiate our clients. Our development team has vast experience in various frameworks, tools & technologies, advanced features & functionalities, and much more. Let us know your requirements.
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