There’s no question in smartphones being a total game-changer ever since they have entered the market. To dive straight into, how many of you know about Progressive Web Apps VS Responsive Web App? We are sure, a lot don’t! Well, then come let’s learn about what are these and how these two are distinguishable.
Our dependency on technology has only proliferated and it will continue to. Smartphones have been a game-changer and have made everything accessible over a handset. However, it still comes across various challenges like accessing the Progressive Web Apps VS Responsive Web Apps. Well, to concise it down, the comparison between PWA VS Responsive Web Apps is a much-wondered difference as both of them offer many similar features. However, what makes them stand out from one other is something we will be learning about.
Research says that 53% of users rebound off a web page that takes more than at least eight seconds. Thus, a homepage’s standard time is 15 seconds to carry out a purchase. However, it is quite unlikely that the users will bear the pain of waiting for the pages to load as they try to carry out a purchase selection and checkout process on their phones. This was what led to the introduction of Progressive Web Apps.
This article will incorporate everything you need to know about PWA VS Responsive Web Apps and their respective features. We look forward to addressing all your queries regarding the Progressive Web Apps VS Responsive Web Apps.
What Are Progressive Web Apps?
Who likes the buffer period on the internet? Well, clearly no one does. However, Progressive Web Application solves the problem as they are the websites just the way they are irrespective of the screen size as they function like that of a normal application. PWA is more of an application than an actual website.
PWA is not bound to autonomous downloads from the Play Store or App Store as they run pretty well on the browser. PWAs are responsible for solving various problems and shortcomings that vary from sluggish networks to restrictive data or total lack of connectivity. Progressive Web Apps are unconventional as they take less storage space and get updated just like a web page so that the users can access Bluetooth, webcam, microphone, and other hardware sensors.
Thus, to provide an engaging, reliable, and quick user experience, Progressive Web Apps meet all the requirements that specifically offer the latest web technologies. One of the examples of this is the social media websites such as Gmail or Instagram. When you visit these websites, you will be greeted with an in-app-like experience that includes all of an installed application’s capabilities. We will be explaining the difference between progressive web apps vs responsive web apps.
Features Of Progressive Web Apps
Progressive Web Apps are the most preferred for various reasons, and we shall be discussing some features that make the Progressive Web Apps stand out.
1. Instant Loading
Progressive Web Apps are made in such a way that it loads nearly instantly and reliably irrespective of the weak network connection. Users are more likely to engage themselves with the content and spend more time on the website because the Progressive Web App loads fast which offers better retention and conversion rates.
2. Push Notifications
Progressive Web Apps has an edge over other web apps as it offers one of the most essential features of a native mobile app: push notifications.
Push notifications are instant messages that pop up on the user’s screen (if the user has explicitly opted in to receive them). The primary objective is to send them t to keep the visitors coming again and again to your site. They are an unquestionably powerful way to increase engagement on your website.
3. Add To Home Screen
This is by far one of the best features of Progressive Web Apps as it offers to save or add that website on your home screen. This feature saves time and increases the reliability among its users.
PWA was majorly fabricated, to improve their smartphone experience, the company Alibaba.com saw a 4x higher interaction rate only with the add to screen feature.
4. Home Page Remains Same
No matter whether you are using PWA on your phone or on your PC. One thing that makes PWA stand out is the home page of the apps or the respective websites doesn’t change, it rather remains the same.
For example, if we log in to Instagram or Facebook using a PC, the interface remains the same and we fail to distinguish the difference.
What Are Responsive Web Apps?
If we have to suffice with what Responsive Web Apps are then, it can simply be quoted as “Users anticipate the best experience on the websites irrespective of the devices and the networks they use.” Yes, that’s right! Responsive Web Apps are the ones specifically designed in a way that they fit and accommodate any screen size according to the user requirements and expectations.
In more technical terms, Building a website that can be visited from both desktop and mobile interfaces while keeping user expectations in mind is known as a responsive web application is the main idea of Responsive Web Apps. Responsive Web Apps are a comprehensive and integrated way of creating different user experiences for different devices.
There is a constant quest among users regardless of what devices they are using or what network they are on: yet, they want greater experiences. Meeting the users’ expectations becomes a must and sacrosanct if responsive web apps want to stay in the game for a long time. Responsive web application designs are useful in this situation. Below we have mentioned the differentiation between progressive web apps vs responsive web apps.
Features Of Responsive Web Apps
Although PWAs are already much ahead in the game, the Responsive Web Apps are also preferred, and below are the reasons stated in features that make the Responsive Web Apps establish an edge.
1. The Adjustability of the Screen Resolutions
Responsive Web Apps strongly emphasize the user experience, which is why RWAs adjust to all screen sizes to provide users with a better and more personalized experience. Responsive websites work independently, adjusting to various screen sizes, resizing images, changing font and navigation, repositioning content, and so on. This contributes to a positive user experience and a positive image of the company among customers or users, resulting in a larger audience.
2. Breakpoints
Breakpoints, also known as media queries, are the most basic CSS filters that may be used to apply different style rules to different devices such as computers, mobile phones, and tablets. On different device width ranges, one can also tweak and change the layout and design.
3. Reflowing Content
Simply put the content that adapts its width to meet the window’s dimensions. Every day, new smartphones with new screen sizes are released. It requires the browser to recalculate all element dimensions and positions before reloading the page. Providing optimized layouts for mobile devices and tablets is critical.
The Difference Between Progressive Web App VS Responsive Web App
Responsive Web Apps are equally in the game as much as the Progressive Web Apps are, the only point of difference between the two is Responsive Webs Apps are user experience generated, which means they prioritize user requirements and expectations. Whereas, Progressive Web Apps are autonomous and do not cater to the user requirements.
| Difference | Progressive Web Apps | Responsive Web Apps |
| High Loading Speed | One of the unbeatable advantages of PWA over Responsive Web Apps is the high loading speed. The mechanism and the usage of ‘App Shell’ make the process faster and give the feeling of using a real application. | RWAs don’t employ ‘App Shell,’ which makes loading and running data on mobile phones time-consuming and exhausting. |
| Highly Adaptive | Progressive Web Apps are not adaptive like that Responsive Web Apps as their web interface remains the same irrespective of the screen size. | Whereas, Responsive Web Apps are far more adaptive as they adjust according to the user requirements and expectations. |
| Convenience | PWAs are more convenient than Responsive Web Apps as they exist just like a native app with all back-end framework features making the website very appealing. | This is one of the main reasons why people prefer Progressive Web Apps over Responsive Web Apps. RWAs lack the features and connectivity criteria, compromising the user experience |
| Add To Home Screen | You can Add the PWA to your home screen or maybe save it for a further read. This is one difference that makes the PWA have an edge over RWA. | The feature to Add to the Home screen is absent. You have to directly download the application from the app store. |
| Push Notifications | Once the PWA is opened, the user will be prompted to enable unique push notifications. | Responsive Web Apps do not provide users with this option |
| Security | They are more reliable as they are protected through the use of the HTTPS protocol. | While an RWA might be as secure as a PWA, responsive websites are not required to use secure protocols. |
Wrapping Up
Thus, this was a comprehensive differentiation of PWA VS Responsive Web Apps and as we noted, PWAs are much preferred and considerably more reliable than Responsive Webs Apps. We stated some of the distinguishable features above, now it’s your turn to use and differentiate yourself. Furthermore, if you have any queries or related doubts, please drop your queries in the comment section below.
