PWA vs native apps – which one is best for you? 

The battle between Progressive Web App and native apps is never-ending because 95% of startup founders and enterprises struggle with choosing whether a native app or PWA is the go-to option for them.

However, the choice of app development depends on whether your business goals align with the resources you have.

Let’s say your goal is to create a quick-to-deploy option, and accessibility and cost-effectiveness are your focus. Then, Progressive Web App should be your top priority for validating your product idea.

Conversely, if your focus is on creating an app that delivers blazingly fast performance, supports offline capabilities, and offers full access to device features (GPS, camera, Bluetooth, push notifications), then a native app can serve your purpose.

But creating such a mobile app requires high development expenses.

In this blog, we’ll explore the differences between PWA and native apps.

PWA vs Native Apps: What are they?

Sneak peek of PWAs

These apps combine the capabilities of the web with a native-like look and feel. Users can access these web apps across all devices through a browser; no traditional app downloads are required.

PWAs are not platform-specific apps; these apps can run on the browser. Unlike native apps, these web apps do not use any of the device’s features and can’t work like native apps. In terms of cost Progressive Web Apps are cost-effective as they use a single codebase.

These types of web apps are preferable for startups with limited funds, who want to launch their web app quickly and want to reach a larger audience.

Brands such as Starbucks and Pinterest successfully launched PWAs and saw a massive increase in their engagement and conversion rates.

Compared to native apps, these apps are smaller in size and offer offline support, meaning they can work smoothly in areas of low network connectivity (thanks to service worker technology).

Example of Progressive Web Apps: 

AliExpress, a global e-commerce platform, noticed that most of the visitors who land on their site come through mobile devices. Keeping the mobile audience in mind, they wanted to create a website that’s optimized for them. 

So, they decided to switch to Progressive Web Apps and saw a massive increase in their conversion rates of 104%. 

The reason behind switching to PWA is that they wanted to increase their user engagement rate even in areas where high internet connectivity is an issue. On top of that, they wanted to increase their global reach as their products cater to international online buyers. 

Then, what are Native apps? 

These applications are designed for specific platforms such as Android or iOS. If your aim is to create an app that supports device-specific features such as camera, GPS, or advanced animations, then you should create a native app as it delivers superior performance. 

Developers use Java/Kotlin for creating Android apps and Objective-C/Swift for creating iOS apps. While businesses are looking to create performance-heavy applications such as gaming or AR, then native app is the game-changer for you. 

From a business perspective, native apps are more expensive as you must build separate apps for both platforms and hire two different development teams. Plus, developers need to deal with app store approvals and other ongoing maintenance. 

It could be a downfall for startups with limited budgets, but if you’re looking for performance-intensive tasks or deep device integration, then it’s worth spending money on it. 

Example of native app: 

Uber developed a native app because they wanted to offer faster performance to their users and allow them to access their device features such as GPS for tracking rides. 

Similarly, WhatsApp has its own native application that gets access to device features and allows people to talk in real-time and sharing multimedia. 

Advantages of Progressive Web Apps over native apps 

Here are the few benefits of Progressive Web App over native apps: 

1. Cross-platform compatibility 

Progressive Web Apps are cross-platform apps that run on any device using a web browser. Unlike native apps, these web apps don’t require downloading separate applications for Android or iOS operating systems. Developing these apps requires a single codebase, so they’re cost-effective in nature. 

2. Deployment and updates are faster 

Progressive web apps can be deployed faster and can be updated quickly without going through the time-consuming app store approval process. Users get an updated app version without going for manual updates. 

3. Cost-effective 

PWAs require a single codebase to create apps for multiple platforms, which requires less development time and effort. This means that startup owners, despite having limited resources, can connect with their audience at a global level across different platforms. 

Other than that, these apps are developed using web development technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. From an organizational perspective, you don’t need to hire developers for platform-specific development. 

While native apps require high development costs as they require creating a separate app for each platform. So, they’re 3-4 times more expensive than PWAs. 

4. No complex installation process 

Modern users are tired of the app installation process, and research backs this up. An average user has around 80 apps installed on their mobile device, but they don’t use all those apps. 

Downloading an app demands user attention, time, and effort. They need to visit the Play Store/App Store to get an application. After the installation process, there’s no guarantee that users will engage with your app. 

While PWAs offer an easy installation process where you can access these apps through URLs such as mobile.twitter.com. Additionally, users can bookmark the web app so they can visit it later. 

5. Enhances the user experience 

Though Progressive Web Apps don’t offer a superior experience to users, they still increase customer engagement through these features such as – 

• offline functionality,  

• adding the app to the home screen,  

• sending push notifications,  

• requiring less storage space,  

• sharing the URL of your app with others and  

• getting a native-like look and feel. 

Advantages of native apps over Progressive Web Apps 

Here are the few benefits that make native apps stand out: 

1. Delivers faster performance 

Native apps deliver faster performance to users as they use platform-specific programming languages and APIs. As these mobile apps are developed using native APIs and key components, they load more quickly than non-native ones. 

2. Make your app more discoverable 

As native apps are listed on App Store or Play Store, users can easily search and find your app on the go. 

These mobile apps appear at the top of the app store through app store optimization (ASO).  

ASO includes increasing your app’s visibility by writing the relevant app title, meta description, adding relevant keywords, and including high-quality visuals that can entice users.  

3. Offers robust security 

Native apps are more secure than PWAs as they can take advantage of platform-specific capabilities such as encryption, strong permission systems, multi-factor authentication along with other security checks.  

More importantly, it also protects user data from third-party systems and prevents unauthorized access. 

Difference between PWAs and Native apps 

Developing any mobile application, whether it’s native or Progressive Web Apps, depends on business goals and the number of resources. PWAs and native apps differ from each other in terms of how they’re developed, what benefits they can offer, and how users can interact with them. 

Let’s discuss the key differences that make native apps different from Progressive Web Apps:  

1. Platform dependency 

Native apps are built for specific platforms (Android, iOS). They’re platform-dependent apps. 

While PWAs don’t require specific platforms, they can run on any browser.  

2. How users can access the app 

Users can access native apps through app stores such as Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 

While PWAs can be easily accessed by users through a web browser no matter what device they’re using. These web-based apps can be added to users’ home screens using a few taps without requiring app installation. 

3. Development technology 

Native apps are meant to work on specific platforms, so they’re developed using platform-specific programming languages such as Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android. These apps use platform-specific features so they can take advantage of device hardware and operating systems. 

Progressive Web Apps, on the other hand, use web development technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. 

4. Performance 

If you want to develop an app that requires complex features and smooth animations, then native apps offer mind-blowing performance. 

While PWAs are a good fit for developing simple applications as they’re lightweight apps. 

5. Development time and cost 

Developing a native app requires more time as it requires building multiple versions for each platform. So, the development time tends to be longer. Hence, the development cost is also high due to platform-specific coding.  

Alternatively, PWAs are faster to build as they involve creating a single web-based app. They follow the “write once and deploy everywhere” type of framework. 

The development cost is lower in the case of PWA as it requires a single codebase. Plus, finding developers who are familiar with web development technology is easy, and they often charge less than native developers. 

6. Offline capabilities 

PWAs support offline access through service worker technology. This means that an app can show previously accessed or cached content to users. 

On the other hand, native apps offer full offline support as they store large amounts of local data and can still use platform-specific features such as GPS, camera, and notifications when the app does not have active internet connectivity. 

7. User experience 

Native apps offer a much better user experience as they comply with platform-specific design guidelines. 

For instance – Android uses UX design guidelines such as Material Design language that defines how the app will look and feel, such as color and grid-based layout. 

These mobile apps have an intuitive user experience, meaning they give more control to users for app interactions. 

While non-native apps might offer a native-like look and feel, these web apps aren’t as responsive as their capabilities are limited to web browsers.  

8. Distribution process 

Native apps require app store approval and are distributed through respective stores such as Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 

For publishing an app on the App Store, iOS developers need to conform to app store review guidelines, which indicate how the app should look (user interface), functional operations, etc.  

Even Apple can reject the app if it finds that your app is buggy, affects user experience, or is not usable. 

While Progressive Web Apps can skip the app store approval process, these apps are distributed through URLs. Users can access web apps on a browser and can add these apps to their home screen. 

9. Updates 

In the case of native mobile apps, users should download updates by heading over to the App Store or Play Store.  

Even if there’s a minor change in the app feature, users must download the update; otherwise, they can’t access an updated application with new features and performance enhancements. 

PWAs, on the other hand, can handle updates accordingly. When users close the PWA and reopen it again, the service worker technology that runs in the background updates the app automatically. 

PWA vs Native app: What should you choose for your startup/business? 

The choice between choosing PWA or native app depends on a few things that you should consider. There’s never a right or wrong option, as choosing which type of app you should consider depends on your business goal, your budget and development timeline. 

1. Progressive Web Apps are a starting option for you if your startup has limited funds and a small development team.  

However, if you have a specialized development team for a specific app, then you could go with creating a native app for your business.  

2. If you want to develop an app that increases your market reach across different platforms and want to cater to diverse users, then PWAs are the feasible choice for you.  

On the contrary, if your business focus is to target a global audience, start with PWA first and then switch to a native app for more reach. 

3. It also depends on how simple or complex an application you need.  

Let’s say you want to create a complex application that requires superior performance (in the case of banking financial apps or social media apps), integration with device hardware, or access to offline functionalities; then a native app should be your go-to priority. 

While developing a simple application such as a news site, blogging site, or any informational site requires investment in PWAs. 

4. PWAs are a good fit for you if you want to launch an app quickly in the market, while native apps require more development time (lengthy app store approval process) and resources. So, the time to launch your app in the market increases. 

Wrapping up 

Whatever app you choose, it’s important for you to assess the pros and cons. But the above differences covered in the blog have given you good insights on that. 

The choice between Progressive Web App and native app sounds like a daunting task, but before choosing an app for your business, you need to clearly assess your business goals, resources, and target audience. 

For example – Starbucks came up with its PWA as they wanted to provide users with a seamless native-like experience so that users can browse the catalog and order something online even in areas where internet connectivity is a major challenge.  

Their lite application was smaller in size and increased customer engagement as users can complete their transactions online. 

But this was just an instance of why Starbucks chose to develop PWA. For you, it might be a different scenario. 

At BigOhTech, we deal in creating revenue-generating apps for businesses (Android, iOS, and PWAs). Our dedicated development team specializes in creating mobile and web apps that 2x your user engagement, 3x your user experience, and bring a steady flow of ROI for your business.