Pros of Progressive Web App
- The possibility of browserless work. This feature gives the user access to information in one click, which means that the involvement increases: the client can quickly visit the resource at any convenient time.
- Cross-platform compatibility. A standard mobile application works only on those platforms for which it was developed (Android, iOS, Windows). At the same time, PWAs are able to work on almost all hardware platforms, which reduces the cost of development: you do not need to create a separate product for each operating system, it is enough to develop one universal PWA application.
- Offline mode. Without an Internet connection, the user can view information and even send HTML forms. In this case, the data entered by the site visitor in the form is temporarily stored on the device, and as soon as the connection to the Internet appears, they will be sent to the server. Imagine, for example, that you started filling out an order form, and then went into the subway and the connection was interrupted. On a regular website, if you then press the submit button, your data will disappear, while PWA will save all the information and send it at the first opportunity without your participation (an example of an offline form is at the very top of the page).
- Push notifications. Users will be able to receive convenient notifications about promotions, new articles and other events of your resource. Note that you can receive these messages even without installing PWA (an example of push notifications is at the very end of the page).
- Improved conversion. This is rather a consequence of the above points: when working with PWA, the likelihood of a client re-entering the site increases, the time he spends on the resource improves, the user experience improves, which in the long run helps to increase conversion when it comes to a commercial site.
- Indirect impact on SEO. Progressive mobile applications demonstrate good behavioral factors (users actively navigate through pages, lower bounce rate), which can positively affect search rankings. PWA works only with a secure protocol (HTTPS), and this also has a positive effect on the position of the site.
Disadvantages of PWA technology
- The first loading of a PWA page can be a little slow, which is critical when the Internet connection is very weak. This is due to the fact that at the time of the first login there is no information in the cache about the resource.
- The total size of PWA is limited by certain requirements that depend on the user’s browser: no more than 6% of free space on the device for Chrome, 10% for Firefox, 50 MB for the mobile version of Safari or 250 MB for Internet Explorer. It is quite difficult to calculate the exact limit, since the degree of device memory utilization may be different for each user. Therefore, when creating PWA, you have to reduce the size of all resources as much as possible to minimize the risk that some of them will not fit into the cache.
- PWA technology is more difficult to implement on a ready-made website because it requires maximum content optimization.
- If you work with a PWA site through a browser, then clearing the browser cache will lead to the irreversible loss of data related to the site and the inability to visit the resource offline until the Internet is available and the data in the cache is overwritten.
- Many functions of PWA sites cannot work properly when the “incognito” mode is enabled in the browser.