Difference between Progressive & Responsive Web Apps

Smartphones have become an integral part of our regular lives. We might manage a whole day without a wallet but without smartphones, it seems impossible. From buying things online, booking a cab to making payments, ordering foods, we can do it all from a smartphone. The ever-increasing dependency on the smartphone has given a strong upsurge to the demand for developing unique and better mobile applications.

According to Google, 53% of users leave a web page that takes more than eight seconds to load. On the other side, a typical home page still takes 15 seconds to load on mobile phones.

For instance, if a user is looking forward to buying a service or product from your site and experience a slow page loading speed unless the person feels a strong urgency to buy it, it’s unlikely he/she would wait on your side, rather switch to another high-performing website.

To meet the ever-changing customers’ needs, technologies have advanced substantially.

From device-specific applications to applications that are compatible with all devices, we have already come a long way. So is the scenario with responsive and progressive web applications.

Both are highly popular and have their unique benefits. However, with two options, it might be difficult for you to select one for your online business venture.

To make thing convenient for you, we, as TechRev’s custom web and mobile apps development solution team, have come up with a comprehensive comparison between

progressive and responsive web applications.

Progressive VS Responsive Apps-Which One is better?

Speed: When speed is concerned, progressive web apps tend to win the race. PWAs ensure improved effectiveness for the mobile apps as it has faster-loading speed on all devices. Furthermore, PWAs are compatible with old browsers. This particular feature gives them a competitive edge on responsive apps. The faster speed of PWAs enables a business to leverage modern features like push notifications, offline support, native audio and video features.

Offline Capabilities:

This feature ensures that users can access the apps offline. Responsive apps are not able to work offline, while the large amount of data stored by PWAs allows them to work offline. This particular capability helps in significantly reducing the buffering time.

Cost Efficiency: Cost efficiency plays a vital role in almost every business decision. When it comes to developing a mobile application, you should always assess if the investment is worth it. One of the best parts of a responsive app is that it can easily fit in different screen devices using a single codebase. When it comes to developing a responsive app, you just have to write the code once and the mobile device will automatically present the website according to the screen size.

On the other hand, PWAs are developed by using different coding languages like JavaScript, HTML 5 and CSS. Each language is used for specific screen size. Once the application detects the screen size of the host device, it presents the customized version of your website. Therefore, developers need to make different versions for the different screen sizes and this is what makes the PWA development work a costly affair.

User-Experience: An excellent and friendly user experience is the key to success for any online business. When it comes to delivering a high-quality and seamless user experience PWAs have been always leading the competition. Unlike native apps that only run on specific platforms like iOS or Android, PWAs can efficiently run on multiple platforms and deliver a native-like experience. PWAs also come with high-end features like SMS/MMS capability, task-scheduling, easy file access, offline storage and location access.

On the other hand, as we have already said responsive apps can easily adapt to unique screen sizes of different mobile devices, they cannot provide users with a native-like experience which is a negative aspect in today’s marketplace where UX determines the buying behavior of the new-aged customers.

Accessibility: Users can easily save a Progressive Web App on their mobile device’s home screen. It’s great accessibility as it doesn’t require users to search in the browser every time. Users can easily open the application by clicking the app icon from their list of apps on the home screen.

Conclusion:

When it comes to developing an application, be it a progressive web app or responsive app, there’s no one-size-fits-to-all solution available in the market. It all depends on your unique business requirements. It’s always advisable to discuss your requirements, budget and expected outcome with an experienced and market-leading custom web and mobile apps development solution like TechRev.