In present times, more and more companies aspire to reach out to potential customers for building their brand image. This is commonly done by launching mobile applications that can promote goods and services. A technology that is extremely helpful in reaching an increasing number of people through the medium of mobile is that of progressive web applications.
A Progressive web application or a PWA includes the combination of both the web and native application features that allow a person to receive push notifications, install an application on the home screen, work in an offline mode, and so on. To put this in simple terms, progressive web application development provides a website with mobile app functionality.
PWAs are mostly developed by a wide range of famous platforms such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It must be noted that the PWAs are very different from the native mobile applications in terms of installation and the overall performance.
Some of the common properties that make progressive web applications different and even better than the native apps are that PWAs are responsive, connectivity independent, responsive, discoverable, safe, linkable, app-like, quick, etc. Many popular brands such as Starbucks, Zee5, Trivago, Uber, etc. have been using PWAs to target more clients, boost revenue, and generate conversions.
In this blog, we look at the cost of services and the main tools used for progressive web applications. Let’s begin:
COST OF SERVICES:
The PWA cost is rather a lengthy and complicated topic that involves multiple things. The most important fact that should be understood here is that there are no two projects that are the same in nature since multiple complexities are involved. Additionally, technologies, approaches, domain expertise involved in the progressive web application development projects are always different and therefore are the rates.
That being said, there is one thing that stays pretty much the same for any website. The more complex is the functionality of a website, the longer the time it will take for the progressive web application development company to build a PWA, and so, the price will be automatically higher. Three factors that are involved in defining the total PWA cost and they are complexity, development method, and the total number of web pages that need caching.
Two solutions that can enable us to get better ideas of how the PWA development cost influences are:
- READY-MADE SOFTWARE: The ready-made software applications are the ones that allow the companies to shorten the time and the PWA cost involved in the implementation. However, this is not the best option in case you have particular business requirements since most of the ready-made templates are limited.
- CUSTOM MADE PWA DEVELOPMENT: This option can be most commonly found as the relevant one in case you have specific business needs that don’t have the potential to be solved with the assistance of off-the-shelf software.
Fundamentally, the complete process of turning a simple web application into a progressive web application includes two main stages. These stages include adding a web app manifest and a service worker. In order to complete these stages, the assistance of front end developers who have in-depth knowledge of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML is very important.
As far as the rates of the specialties mentioned above are concerned, that completely depends on the geographic location and the total experience of the developer. The better the skills, knowledge, and experience of the developer, the more will be the rates, and subsequently, better will be the results of the project.
MAIN TOOLS USED FOR PROGRESSIVE WEB APPLICATIONS:
There are multiple PWA tools and technologies that help developers in creating high-quality PWAs. Some of the most commonly used PWA tools are mentioned below:
- React, Vue.js: React.js is used for building the front-end of the application since the multiple libraries that come installed in it help in speeding and simplifying the process of progressive web application development. As opposed to this, Vue.js is used for building lightweight and simple to fix applications.
- Ruby on Rails: Ruby on Rails is a framework that comes with modules that allow developing complete back-end logic functioning.
- Service Worker API: The service worker API offers a way of transforming a traditional website into a progressive web application.
- SCSS/CSS-in-JS/Modular Stylesheets: This is useful in creating web page styles.
In addition to the ones mentioned above, other commonly used PWA tools are Google Developers, PWA Builder, Lighthouse, PWA Rocks, Workbox, etc.
CONCLUSION:
The progressive web applications are often known as the future of the web for not just one, but many good reasons. They are fast loading, quickly installed, offer push notifications, network independence, reliability, etc. All of these factors assist entrepreneurs in improving user engagement and boosting conversions.
More and more businesses should most definitely invest in progressive web application development to provide their users with a reliable, fast, and engaging mobile experience.