PWA vs. Native App: a Side-by-Side Comparison

1. Pwavs native app: a side by side comparison

2. Have you noticed an “Add To Home Screen” notification while you were browsing websites on your smartphone? If you clicked on it, you would see a shortcut on your device’s home screen just like a native app does. Yet the site sits bookmarked alongside all other apps. The only oddity is that you haven’t downloaded anything from app stores. This is how PWAs work. In this article, we will dig into application development software Progressive Web Apps and native apps, bump their heads together, and draw comparisons to determine which technology is the winner of the contest: tried-and-true native applications or brand new progressive ones.

3. Native Apps: A Quick Overview • A native app is a software program coded in a particular programming language that is created for use on a specific device or platform (Android, Windows, or iOS). • On the tech side, in order to build a native app, developers make use of dedicated frameworks and programming languages. 

4. Progressive Web Apps: A Quick Overview • Progressive Apps that are built with modern frameworks such as React.js or Angular, give websites the look and feel of regular smartphone apps when accessing them on a mobile web browser with no need to be downloaded from stores.

5. What is the Difference? • In order to choose between a progressive and native app for your company’s mobile presence, it is essential to know the difference between PWA and Native Apps as far as each development methodology has both its pros and cons. We are going to break out the core differentiators: • ● Installation● Offline Usage● Push Notification● Device features● Updates● UX/UI● Cost

6.  Installation Process • Native apps can be found and installed through either Google Play or App Store. End users can find them by typing popular keywords or a brand name in a store’s search bar. It should be mentioned that native apps are massive. A PWA is a different story. Since they are downloaded and run on a mobile browser, they take a little space. Thus, the average PWA file size is just 350 KB so the installation process takes a few seconds and can be done in a click without visiting an app store (as you can see at the screenshot). So, progressive applications are the clear winners in this category.

7. Offline Usage • Some time ago, the ability to access the content users want without an Internet connection remained the prerogative of native apps. But things have changed. The uprise of PWAs can boast the same capabilities. They utilize cached data to provide offline use. • But here is the thing. A progressive app can serve only certain parts of the content to users when their device is disconnected. As such, anything that is not part of the page’s caching system will be unavailable until connectivity is restored. 

8. Push Notifications • With native apps, you can build the required functionality from the ground up or integrate it into an app with the help of third-party services such as PushBots or OneSignal. • With PWAs, the push notification functionality can be implemented thanks to service workers. However, the truth is that at this point, this functionality is still limited to Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Mozilla browsers and practically is not available on iOS devices. 

9. Device Features • native apps can use the: • ● GPS● camera● fingerprint scanner● accelerometer● compass● contact list● alarm● calendar● mobile payments, and so on. • Progressive apps use HTML, JS, and CSS to build out many of the same features contained in a native app. However, PWAs can’t take advantage of these features to its full extent.

10. Updates • The updating process is automated for both native and progressive apps and users can hardly detect that an update occurs. So it is nothing to do for users when it comes to updating web and progressive apps as for the most part, this process will go unnoticed. As such, there are no winners in this category.

11.  UX/UI • Native apps are designed taking into account hardware’s specific capacities so that they can make use of a device to its full extent. As far as PWAs are concerned, their code can be reused for different platforms. You are free to use the same functionality and UI template for Android, iOS, desktops. All in all, progressive web apps provide an app-like experience to their users: they look and feel exactly like native apps but the development cost is less.

12. Costs • f you are doing to create a native app for your business by an expert agency, you have to be prepared to spend more than $100,000. The average PWA development price is $15,000 – $50,00. It is much cheaper than native apps offer. Moreover, with a PWA developed, you will get a responsive website, as a bonus. 

13. Opt for a native app, if: • your app is expected to use platform-specific hardware features and requires tight integration with the device hardware● you already have targeted users who are likely to download your app from app stores● your business consider the store presence as a must● you are planning to create AR rendering application or online game● you’d like to monetize your app● your app is expected to benefit from biometric authentication.

14. Opt for a PWA, if: • your budget is limited● you want desktop users to access your app, as well● you would like to provide your users with perfect UX● push-notifications on iOS is not essential for your business● you want to reach a large audience with a cross-platform solution● there is no need for tight integration with the hardware of a user’s device.