Progressive web apps: between web and native
“Download our app for a better experience!”, it’s the digital equivalent of “Eat your vegetables, they’re good for you.” We’ve all ignored that popup, knowing very well that another app means another 200MB of precious phone storage to be sacrificed.
Here’s the dirty secret of mobile development in 2025: you shouldn’t have to choose between the universal accessibility of websites and the slick experience of native apps. That’s like picking between taste and nutrition when you could have both.
Enter progressive web apps (PWAs), the digital equivalent of sneaking cauliflower into mac and cheese. These technological hybrids deliver app-like experiences with web-like convenience, creating digital products that users actually want to engage with and businesses can maintain without running parallel development teams.
In a world obsessed with compromise, PWAs are that rare solution that actually delivers the best of both worlds. But how do they do it?
From websites to apps and back again
The evolution of mobile engagement has come full circle. First came mobile websites—often clunky, scaled-down versions of desktop sites. Then native apps emerged, offering superior experiences but requiring users to discover, download, and update them. Now PWAs represent the convergence of these approaches, offering app-like experiences with web-like accessibility.
Today’s users expect instant gratification: experiences that are fast, engaging, and hassle-free. They want the richness of native apps without the commitment of downloading them. PWAs meet these expectations by eliminating friction while preserving quality.
What exactly makes something a PWA?
At their core, PWAs are web applications built with modern technologies that enable app-like functionality. They’re:
- Reliable: They load instantly and work offline or with poor connectivity
- Fast: They respond quickly to user interactions with smooth animations
- Engaging: They offer immersive, app-like experiences with native-style interfaces
The magic happens through technologies like Service Workers (which enable offline functionality and background processes), Web App Manifests (which allow “installation” on home screens), and push notifications (which drive re-engagement). Together, these create experiences that blur the line between websites and native apps.
Why businesses are flocking to PWAs
The business case for PWAs is compelling, especially as development and maintenance costs for multi-platform native apps continue to rise. Consider these advantages:
Development efficiency: Build once, run everywhere. PWAs require a single codebase rather than separate versions for iOS, Android, and web, reducing development costs.
Frictionless acquisition: No app stores means no approval processes, no downloads, and no updates for users to manage. This dramatically improves conversion rates—Tinder saw a 15% increase in swipes and messaging when they launched their PWA.
Improved performance: PWAs are lightweight by design. Pinterest’s PWA is just 150KB compared to their 9.6MB Android app, leading to faster load times and better engagement.
Search visibility: Unlike native apps, PWAs are indexed by search engines, improving discoverability and reducing acquisition costs.
Offline capabilities: PWAs continue functioning without an internet connection, making them reliable even in areas with spotty connectivity.
Push engagement: With push notification support now available across major browsers, PWAs can drive re-engagement just like native apps.
Success stories that speak for themselves
The proof is in the performance metrics. Companies across industries are seeing remarkable results with PWAs:
- Starbucks built a PWA that’s 99.84% smaller than their iOS app, resulting in doubled daily active users and a 20% increase in online orders.
- Trivago saw a 150% increase in engagement and a 97% increase in clickouts to hotel offers after implementing their PWA.
- Twitter Lite, a PWA version of the platform, decreased data usage by 70% while increasing tweets and page views by 75%.
- West Elm increased their mobile revenue by 9% and their time spent on site by 15% with their furniture shopping PWA.
These aren’t isolated successes—they represent a pattern of improved metrics across acquisition, engagement, and conversion when businesses adopt the PWA approach.
Is a PWA right for your business?
While PWAs offer compelling advantages, they’re not automatically the right choice for every situation. Consider a PWA when:
- You need presence across multiple platforms but have limited development resources
- Your users access your service in conditions with unreliable connectivity
- The user journey benefits from reduced friction (particularly important for e-commerce)
- You want to improve SEO and reduce dependence on app store discovery
Native apps might still make more sense when you need deep hardware integration, complex processing, or platform-specific features that PWAs can’t yet access—though this gap continues to narrow with each browser update.
How to approach PWA development
If you’re considering a PWA strategy, follow these steps to ensure success:
- Audit your current mobile experience to identify gaps and opportunities. What frustrates users? Where do they drop off?
- Prioritize features based on user needs rather than technical capabilities. Focus on the core functionality that delivers the most value.
- Adopt a progressive enhancement approach, building a solid foundation that works for everyone, then layering on advanced features for capable devices.
- Design with offline-first principles, ensuring the application provides value even without connectivity.
- Measure performance rigorously using tools like Lighthouse to ensure your PWA meets speed benchmarks that users expect.
Remember that a PWA isn’t just a technical implementation—it’s a commitment to a user-centric mobile strategy that values performance, accessibility, and engagement.
The evolving PWA landscape
The capabilities of PWAs continue to expand as browsers add support for more features. Recent additions include:
- Advanced camera controls
- Web Bluetooth and USB connectivity
- Background sync and periodic background syncing
- File system access
- Contact picker API
These advancements mean PWAs can now handle use cases that previously required native applications, from photo editing to IoT device control. As 5G and edge computing continue to mature, the performance gap between PWAs and native apps will narrow even further.
PWAs also align perfectly with other digital transformation trends, including headless commerce, JAMstack architectures, and API-first development. They represent not just a technical choice but a strategic alignment with the future of digital experiences.
Sustainability through simplification
Beyond the business and user experience benefits, PWAs contribute to more sustainable digital practices. By maintaining a single codebase rather than multiple platform-specific applications, organizations reduce digital waste and resource consumption. While specific figures vary, McKinsey & Company estimates that enhancing the sustainability of software and data architectures could lower CO₂ emissions by approximately 5% by 2030.
Getting started with your PWA strategy
The path to PWA implementation doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. Many organizations begin by:
- Converting their most-used features to PWA functionality
- Releasing a simplified PWA alongside their existing native apps
- Rebuilding their mobile website as a PWA as part of a planned redesign
The key is to approach PWAs as an evolution of your mobile strategy rather than a revolution—identifying the highest-impact opportunities and addressing them systematically.
Finding your sweet spot
In a digital landscape that changes constantly, PWAs offer a remarkably stable foundation for future innovation. They combine the best aspects of websites and applications while mitigating many of their limitations, creating experiences that truly put users first.
As browser capabilities continue to expand and user expectations evolve, the PWA approach provides the flexibility to adapt without rebuilding from scratch. For businesses navigating digital transformation in 2025, that adaptability may be the most valuable advantage of all.
Dmitry Ermakov
Working Machines
An executive’s guide to AI and Intelligent Automation. Working Machines takes a look at how the renewed vigour for the development of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation technology has begun to change how businesses operate.
