With this Native app vs. progressive web app guide, we have tried to help you understand the difference between and benefits of both types of apps and ensure you make a well-informed decision when building your app in the future

1. NATIVE VS PWAAPPS – A
COMPLETE GUIDE
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) has provided another opportunity for
developers to improve the quality of their user experience. Delivering
seamless web pages into a users’ browser can enable them to
access mobile apps with ease while increasing their engagement and
session time. Let’s take the example of Tinder – it was found that its
PWA version halved the loading time in comparison to the native

2. app and reduced the size from 30 MB to 2.8 MB. The online dating
app also saw an improvement in the session time with PWA and an
increase in engagement in terms of more swipes and messages.
Besides, a performance case study shows that Pinterest users spent 40
percent more time on the PWA version of the platform than their
mobile website – leading to a 44 percent increase in the core
engagement.
However, it’s never this simple. A key decision that business leaders
have to take today, is to choose between progressive web apps vs.
native apps.
There still are some developers who would prefer building a native
app looking at several benefits that PWAs cannot replicate. When it
comes to mobile app development, every developer’s preference will
differ based on the functions of the app that they are developing.
Hence, developers need to consider the difference between app and
website or web app for each project. This helps ensure you are
spending resources on building digital products that best serve your
users and optimize the overall app’s performance.
In this article, we have put together a complete guide, giving you an
overview of PWAs and native apps, sharing insights for each, to help
you choose which type of app would best suit your business needs.

3. What Is A Progressive Web App?
Progressive web apps are an alternative approach to websites, and
they improve an app’s cross-platform performance within web and
mobile. PWAs use up much less storage space on users’ devices in
comparison to native apps. They use service workers or scripts that
browsers run in separate browser threads to cater to requests, caching,
and storing data in a cache. Users even have the choice to save the app
onto the home screen of their devices without having to fully
download the app.
PWAs giver developers a lot of ways to improve the user experience
of the app. Google describes Progressive Web Apps as “reliable, fast,
and engaging.” The tech giant offers a checklist that helps developers
to take a baseline PWA, fully optimize it, and turn it into an
exemplary PWA.
Moreover, PWAs enable developers to create their apps without
needing two separate teams for Android and iOS. This is one of the
reasons, along with performance improvement statistics from
Twitter – a 75 percent increase in Tweets sent and a 20 percent
decrease in bounce rate – that a large group of developers support this
approach. However, before making any decision, you should
understand the advantages of both PWAs and native apps.

5. What Is A Native App?
Native apps have been built for a particular operating system and
coded in a specific programming language. This is the reason why
native apps are usually created twice to cater to audiences of two
dominating OS. Hence, the functions of native apps are fully
optimized for its operating system, as they can effectively utilize the
system’s framework and tools. Developers can incorporate the unique
characteristics of the particular hardware and allow the personalized
experience to users according to their preferred device.
For example, a native app for Android can be coded in Java, and an
iOS app can be developed using Objective C. They are available for
download on App Store and Google Play for iOS and Android,
respectively.
Benefits Of A Native App
 Smooth Interaction With Other Native Apps
One of the significant benefits of building a native iOS or Android
app is that they allow smoother and more natural interaction with
other native apps. For example, a developer may choose to create a
native app if they want the app to seamlessly connect with Facebook.

6.  App Monetization
A native app and easily integrate with the payment process of a user’s
app store, making it easy to purchase and sign up for subscriptions.
Whereas, if you want to build a monetization system in a PWA, you
will need to integrate your payment system at the time of mobile app
development. However, the increase in engagement and longer session
times may balance out this lacking of PWAs. The above mentioned
Tinder’s Performance Case Study shows that purchases on the web
version were on par as the company’s native app.
 Tools And Frameworks
With your native app development, you use a range of technical
means according to the respective operating system. On the other
hand, building PWA doesn’t include the same variety of simplified
tools and streamlined app development processes, as they are not built
on one platform.
 Visibility On App Store
According to a mobile app usage survey by GoodFirms, 60.08 percent
of users find out about new apps by browsing on the app store.
Even though you can publish both native apps and PWAs on the App
Store, the process for a PWA is not as simple as a native app. For a

7. PWA, you will have to write a native wrapper, which includes your
app’s native iOS capabilities. Moreover, you are also required to
provide valid evidence of being a legal, registered business. If you
want to learn more about these limitations and processes in detail read
this article.
That said, with quickly established visibility on the app store, building
a native app allows you to focus more on App Store Optimization and
Apple Search Ads to further improve your app presence. This is a
cost-effective way to acquire more targeted, high-value users and
enhance visibility for users who have shown interest in similar
services as your app.
 App Security
Native app development makes it easier to integrate dynamic security
features like two-factor authentication, as the app has all the necessary
device information available. Whereas native apps can use TLS
certificates and ensure high-security standards are met, PWAs require
their security certifications.
 Battery Consumption
Efficient battery consumption is not possible with PWAs, as they are
not written in native hardware language. This may be the reason why

8. some users reduce their frequency of activity on a PWA, and you can
avoid this problem with native app development.
Benefits Of A Progressive Web App
Even though native apps are still primarily used around the globe, and
many developers opt for it, there are different ways in which PWAs
outperform native apps.
 Loading Speed
As mentioned earlier, PWAs use service workers for caching,
managing requests, and the storage of shell data. Hence, this means
the app shell for PWA will load faster than a native app even when a
user is not connected to the internet, and the loading speed will be
faster. However, they will have to reconnect to the internet to access
new information on the app. Leading speed has a significant impact on
user retention and engagement, which is why this is a critical benefit
when it comes to deciding between progressive web app vs. native
app.
 User Experience
You can offer users a unified user experience with PWAs by
delivering the same interface on the browser and the app installed on

9. their smartphones. This means users don’t have to learn more than one
app interface, which often is a frustrating experience when they use
the mobile web and native versions of the app.
Downloading a native app requires more storage space on the user’s
device. Hence, a lot of users with limited storage space prefer using
the PWA version. PWAs allows users the complete app functionality
without having to worry about storage space or a long and annoying
downloading process.
 App Developing Cost
The development of a progressive web app that seamlessly functions
on multiple platforms and operating systems makes it a cost-effective
choice that drastically reduces your workload. Furthermore, building
custom native apps for iOS and Android will require you to invest
more time and resources to incorporate new features and regular
updates according to the operating system.
 Indexed By Google
PWAs are more like index-able websites, with a live URL, that can be
indexed by Google and easily shared. The pages or screens and
content on PWAs are visible to search engine crawlers and accessible
for all connected devices.

10. PWAs are made up of app-imitating web pages, which means users
can find it on app store and search engines, giving them overall
excellent visibility. You can use SEO practices to reach more targeted
users and make it easy for users to share the URL, increasing the
opportunities for organic visibility and user engagement.
Will PWAs Replace Native Apps?
Moving forward, native apps will continue to grow and evolve in
terms of variety and functionality, mainly because the connected
devices they run on are adding new features, enhancements and
improving processing power. Hence, native apps often have a little
edge over PWAs at first when it comes to capabilities.
However, the gap between native apps and progressive web apps is
continuously decreasing, as the PWAs are becoming a standard
practice for developers. Looking at the journey of native apps and
PWAs, it is likely that the apps we will use in the future will be a mix
of native software and web-based technologies such as PWAs – to
leverage the unique benefits that both offer to users and developers.

11. About The Author
Asim
Asim Rais Siddiqui is living his passion for emerging technologies and software as the Co-Founder and CTO
at TekRevol. An expert in next-generation technology and software solutions, he has over a decade’s worth of
experience in development and enterprise digitalization.