Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are a hybrid of a responsive website and a mobile app.

They are mobile websites built with modern JavaScript frameworks and designed to function similarly to native apps. They can be added to a mobile device's home screen via an icon. They, like apps, engage customers by providing a full-screen experience. They are still just websites when you open them. PWAs acquire significant advantages over native apps with the creation of Service Workers; nonetheless, these advantages remain restricted, particularly on iOS.

PWAs are defined by Google as web experiences that are:

1. Reliable — Load immediately and never show a website as unavailable, even in unstable network conditions.
2. Quick — Respond to user interactions swiftly with silky smooth animations and no janky scrolling.
3. Engaging — Appear to be a natural app on the device, with a rich user experience.

This leads us to some questions (and answers) for business owners trying to decide – “what’s best for my company: how do progressive web apps really compare to native apps?”

PWAs are great to give a better experience to web visitors. But if you want to send push notifications across iOS and Android, if you want to be on the app stores and give your users the experience they want from a mobile app, they might fall short of expectations.

PWAs are built on a service worker, which is written in JavaScript. After a user visits the website once, the service worker saves resources such as HTML files or images so that the PWA's loading speed is not hampered by a poor internet connection the next time it is viewed. Offline work mode, push alerts, and background data syncing are also available to service employees.

Progressive web apps include Pinterest and Twitter. When you access those websites through your mobile web browser, it will automatically display an app-like interface with some mobile app capabilities such as real-time updates or offline notifications.