PWA stands for “Progressive Web Application”. It’s an innovative approach to application development that favors device-agnosticism over native OS support. Put simply, PWAs aim to solve the problem of developing multiple versions of the same app for different devices or operating systems.

Think of a mobile app: Traditionally you would develop several versions of the application, one for iOS, another for Android—and potentially a couple more for macOS and Windows if you later wanted to expand the experience to desktop devices. The process of developing and maintaining these separate apps is inefficient and costly. That’s where PWAs come in. With Progressive Web Apps, you only develop one version of the application, which is device-agnostic and works the same for all operating systems.

This approach saves thousands in development costs, and allows the gained time and resources to be reinvested elsewhere.

Therefore, PWAs are now the first choice when planning for the development of a new app: whether for mobile, desktop, or other web enabled devices. In fact, Progressive Web Apps are now accepted on all major app stores. Furthermore, because of the technology PWAs are built on, they don’t even require distribution via an App Store, and can be installed independently via a web browser.

The foundations of PWAs lie in JavaScript: a powerful frontend language which is able to deliver rich experiences and power modern web apps.

Over the last few years, Progressive Web Applications have become a well-adopted alternative to developing native apps, due mainly to their rapid development cycle, ease of maintenance, and significantly lower financial overhead.

While there’s still a place for native apps, more businesses than ever are choosing to utilize PWAs to deliver engaging and interactive experiences to their users.

PWAs are web applications, and therefore differ from native applications. Native apps are built for specific devices or operating systems (such as iOS, Android, Windows, or macOS). PWAs, on the other hand, utilize a single JavaScript code base to deliver an identical experience on any device.

Progressive Web Apps are a modern alternative to native apps. They come with a range of benefits above native apps, and can be leveraged to suit particular business needs. Primarily, PWAs are faster to develop, easier to maintain, and cheaper to build.

As for websites, PWAs offer an attractive alternative to the traditional site, in that they allow for offline accessing of content, and can contribute to higher levels of engagement through their ability to deliver push notifications.

PWAs are built on Javascript and therefore source data from an external location, such as a headless CMS, ecommerce platform, or publishing application. This sourcing of data occurs through integration of the Progressive Web App with an API to retrieve data. In this sense, all PWAs sourcing data from an external database are "headless": as the backend data point is decoupled from the PWA frontend. The headless approach to web and application development comes with many benefits, such as greater security, optimized speed, and a better ability to scale.

PWAs offer a far-greater level of interaction with a users’ browser or operating system than an ordinary website. For example, PWAs are capable of delivering push notifications and storing data on the client side, allowing offline access. Standard websites aren’t able to offer these kinds of highly-integrated functionalities, and therefore PWAs are able to deliver more enhanced user experiences, allowing greater accessibility of content, as well as ease of access.

Web Apps are browser-based applications, most often built on Javascript, which feature highly interactive experiences and enable users to engage with a User Interface capable of delivering feedback to them in real-time. PWAs boast all the features of an ordinary Web App, plus the offline accessibility. With PWAs, users are able to remain in connection with your app, with data refreshing if necessary once their internet connection is reestablished. This opens up powerful possibilities for many businesses who are looking for a way to reliably deliver content to end users and make the features of their application available regardless of a users' whereabouts. Offline access enables end users to engage with your app more of the time, and reduces barriers for consumers to interact with your content.

PWAs offer a far-greater level of interaction with a users’ browser or operating system than an ordinary website. For example, PWAs are capable of delivering push notifications and storing data on the client side, allowing offline access. Standard websites aren’t able to offer these kinds of highly-integrated functionalities, and therefore PWAs are able to deliver more enhanced user experiences, allowing greater accessibility of content, as well as ease of access.

Absolutely! Progressive Web Apps are superior to traditional websites in many ways, and should be viewed as a practical approach to upgrading or replacing a website with a modern, future-proof alternative.

It's likely that many websites will become PWAs in the future: And some of the most prominent websites today are already PWAs, such as Twitter and Netflix.

PWAs offer a greater level of integration with a users' browser and operating system than a traditional website does, and additionally allow users to access content offline whilst continuing to engage with certain features of the website.

The length of time it takes to develop a PWA varies greatly depending on the project and its requirements. In general, most new build PWAs take several months from the start of a project to completion. The larger, more complex the application, the longer the development time. Bear in mind that as with all development, PWA feature development can occur in stages or cycles, with iterative releases to enhance functionality. As the maintenance and development process for PWAs is significantly easier than for native apps, development can occur at a much faster pace.