I presented an Each One Teach One (EOTO) at the Biz-Dojo — GRID/AKL .

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Just like my talk in Auckland, this post looks at why you might want to use a Progressive Web Application (PWA) to enhance the way your business is serving customers.

Whether you’re considering replacing a native app or just improving your current mobile/web experience, PWAs can probably help because they change the value proposition of a website. They offer you a way out of the app stores, a sticky user experience and more control over installation flow.

As a full stack developer at EndGame, I know how tricky and complex it is to recommend the best technology for clients. There are lots of ways to skin a cat. Most of the time I reach for the familiar as I can easily see its merits.

Recently, a client wanted a “mobile first, high engagement, millennial focussed” application. We said: “You would be served best by a native mobile application”. But they weren’t happy with this idea for a combination of reasons. The challenge of discoverability, build costs and the 30% (approx) revenue share that an app store will take for app (or in-app) purchases being the biggest hurdles.

So I looked at what we could offer with a website — focusing on the mobile experience instead.

History and support.

The term “Progressive Web Application” was coined in 2015 to describe apps that take advantage of new web standards. Since then, they’ve been a thing — a very unconvincing thing. Native apps provided a better user experience and boasted faster load times than a browser could.

To be clear: when the term PWA is used it doesn’t refer to a Hybrid app. People often say “iOS does not support a PWA”. What people mean when they say this is that Safari and iOS don’t have support for Servicer works and home screen installs (which are admittedly two important parts of the bigger picture). As of this month (August, 2017), Apple service worker support is being actively developed!

Show me the results.

Take a look at a couple of examples here. If you want to read about the success people have had — and get some stats around PWA business results then click here.

Key PWA ideas:

Service Workers (Push Notifications & Offline use)

Service Workers are the main technology behind a Progressive Web App. They’re the horse power behind the offline experience, push notifications and caching. They’re event based scripts running in the background. For example, a service worker allows the application to use a push notification to alert the user they’re around the corner from a shop based on GPS data.

App Shelling

This isn’t a new Web API. It’s a building method that developers can use to enhance the caching abilities of service workers — allowing smooth non-blocking transitions.

Installability and App Manifests

A mobile user can “pin” a mobile website to their homescreen on iOS and Android, but the experience is clunky. App Manifest support means that installing web apps to the homescreen will be done with a native install banner. Controlling the install prompts timing is an art that can have huge returns — if done well.

Credentials and Payments (coming soon)

Both these ideas are a natural extension and will be included in the future. Checkout the details: Credentials and Payments. They both solve problems that plagued great mobile experiences in the browser. When they land, PWAs will leap forward again in the results they can deliver.

So what?

Think about your existing offer. How could you deliver a better experience to users with one of the ideas shown above?

PWAs are getting better. And at their core, they’re about better business outcomes from a better user experience.

PWAs aren’t the answer to all issues. But they’re changing the scope and value propositions of websites. They’re giving people a way out of the app stores and allowing them to leverage a superior distribution model - the web.

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