Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are apps that couple the power of the web with mobile. These are built from web technologies but have the feel and functionality of native apps. These are lighter, faster, and personalized. PWA technology was first introduced in 2015. However, the concept came into the mainstream only a few years later, when Google began popularizing it.
Progressive applications provide an edge over their native counterparts because of their immersive user experience and seamless performance across various devices and platforms. With many brands and businesses realizing these benefits, numerous PWA frameworks have flooded the market. This has made it difficult for newcomers to find the right base to build their PWA on.
What is PWA? And What Are Its Advantages?
A PWA is a type of software application delivered through the web. Though it is a website, it looks and feels like an app. It is referred to as “progressive” because “the user progressively builds a relationship with the app over time,” says Google, which coined the term.
PWA combines the advantages of a native app with that of a website. It supports push notifications, functions offline, can be installed on the home screen and provides a full-screen experience just like a native app. It is also indexable by search engines, has cross-platform compatibility, and doesn’t require downloading and updating just like a website.
Top 7 PWA frameworks
Here is a list of the top seven PWA frameworks that you can choose from.
1. NotifyVisitors
NotifyVisitors’ PWA framework lets you create PWAs in real-time. It is lightweight, installable, lightning-fast, linkable and discoverable, and works offline. It supports web push notifications and app-style interactions.
With NotifyVisitors, you can upload your PWA on Google Play Store with advanced features like Trusted Web Activity (TWA). It is served via HTTPS (get to know the difference between HTTP and HTTPS) so that your content is delivered securely. In addition, because the address bar and other Chrome UI will stay hidden, you get a native app-like appearance.
Another desirable feature is that the annoying and confusing “add to home screen” popup on your website will be removed. Those who would like to download your PWA can do so at Google Play Store.
2. Iconic
Ionic makes it possible to render the appearance of native applications to websites. It offers numerous plugins to access native APIs without coding. It also comes with an extensive library of components for iOS and Android. Since it is open-source and free, it significantly lowers the cost of app development. Its built-in browser instrument facilitates easy maintenance.
What makes the Ionic framework fascinating is that mobile app developers relied on native coding to build Windows, iOS, or Android apps until its launch. Each of these platforms demanded a separate, dedicated development. With the introduction of Ionic, they could build almost native-like mobile applications called Hybrid apps. These perform the same way across all technologies and platforms.
3. Vue
Vue is an easy to use and versatile PWA framework. It has a rich and fast-growing library. The documentation is well-organized and easy to follow. It uses simple coding and adopts and enhances current web technologies, including CSS and HTML which is why frontend beginners find it more familiar and tend to learn it quickly.
Vue is acknowledged for its simplistic coding and high-speed rendering. It is flexible and allows you to easily use additional packages to scale your app up. Its browser developer tools extension allows developers to check the existing and previous versions of the app, track custom events, and live edit the components. With Vue, end users will receive a lightweight, user-friendly, and constantly updated app.
4. Angular
Angular was first introduced in 2009 by Google. It is one of the most commonly used PWA frameworks. It is known for its code efficiency and modularity. Using it, you can build robust, reliable, and responsive applications. Since the methodology used is well-defined, you can implement it easily. The inclusion of CLI has shortened the framework’s learning curve.
Developing a PWA app with Angular is easy. It’s complicated infrastructure suits huge projects. Its unique and intelligent AOT (Ahead of Time) concept optimizes it for speed and security. You can also choose from a variety of third-party extensions. Since Google backs it, it has a large and active community of developers so, you can expect to receive excellent support.
5. Polymer
The polymer is an open-source PWA framework introduced in 2015 by Google. Google uses it in Play Music, Google Earth, Google I/O websites, and other products. It was designed for the Chrome browser and its suite of plugins and compatibility features. However, it is compatible with all modern browsers. As it doesn’t have any configuration requirements and comes with an extensive suite of tools, templates, and web components, developers prefer it.
Polymer full support, including responsive layouts, data tier, and routing. This eliminates the need to search outside of the Polymer platform for application features. Its API is also easy to comprehend, and the extensive documentation helps you at each phase of app development. Another advantage is that it doesn’t need debugging tools as it has browser embedded tools.
6. React
React is a frontend framework introduced in May 2013. It is supported by Facebook and an open-source community of developers. It allows you to build dynamic interfaces. It is acknowledged for its large community and extensive JavaScript library. It allows speedy rendering due to Virtual-DOM. It offers flexibility and scalability as well.
React is minimalistic with no overly complicated features. For those developers who have previous knowledge of JavaScript, this framework will be easy to understand. However, as it has no “the only right project structure,” it would take some time to learn about setting up a project and whenever there is an update to the framework.
7. Quasar
Quasar is an open-source framework based on Vue. It is performance-focused, easily customizable, and extendable. It supports a wide range of platforms, including Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, Firefox, IE11/Edge, Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phone. It also includes amazing features like code-splitting with lazy loading, Linting code, Source-mapping, Tree-shaking, cache busting, ES6 transpiring, and more. It also offers an easy injection of simple or complex setups into your apps.
Quasar is easy to understand and simple to use. It has its own CLI for creating and managing your projects. Newcomers will benefit from its project templates and have access to fully focused and comprehensive documentation, so they can learn it quickly.
Final words
Businesses have to adopt today’s technological advancements to keep abreast of the digital market conditions. With more and more brands banking on Progressive Web App methodology to ensure lightning-fast and app-like experience, PWA is something that they can no longer afford to neglect. Each PWA framework discussed in our blog has its advantages and unique features. Businesses can choose the right framework for them depending on their app needs and their developers’ skills.
Author bio – Shivani Goyal
Shivani is a content writer at NotifyVisitors. She writes SEO articles, blogs, and guest posts for businesses to improve website ranking on SERP. She follows a balanced approach to the quality of content and its marketing.
