Progressive Web Apps - End of Native Apps?

Until recently we believed Mobile Apps is the future. In our perfect world companies introduced their products and services in Native Mobile Apps which served their end customer in an efficient way. Except, retaining mobile users was a challenge, as Apps needed installation, setup and numerous updates over time.

Secondly, Search engines like google could not read the content hosted inside the mobile apps.  On the other hand Apple was serving only controlled apps in Apple store. Thus, companies had three variations in serving the content to the users, The website, iOS and Android Apps. It seems like a lot of effort yet, mobile users browsed internet via browser more than they used Apps. This raised the need for an App that doesnot need download or install, and also ran in browsers, which enabled access across all devices and browsers.

Proposed by Google in 2015, Progressive Web Apps marks a new beginning in Mobile computing. Simply put “A Progressive Web App uses modern web capabilities to deliver an app-like user experience.” – Progressive Web Apps.  

Studies show that, an app loses 20% of its users on average for every step between the user’s first contact and the users beginning point to use the app. A consumer first find the app in an app store, download it, install it and then, finally, open it to make configurations to use it. On the other hand, with Progressive Web Apps, they will be able to immediately start using it, eliminating the unnecessary downloading and installation stages.

Source : Social

Recent advancements in the browser technology, availability of service workers , the Cache and Push APIs have enabled web developers to allow users to install Progressive Web Apps to their home screen, receive push notifications and even work offline.  Progressive Web Application takes advantage of a Native or Hybrid App’s characteristics, resulting in improved user retention and performance, without the complications involved in maintaining the mobile application.

The future is now

All good and great but when and what situations Progressive Web Apps are right match? We know that Native is usually recommended for applications that expects users to return to frequently, and a progressive web app is not any different. 

Case study : Financial Times

Flipkart uses a progressive web app for its popular e-commerce platform, Air Berlin uses a progressive web app for its online check-in process, allowing users to access their tickets without an Internet connection. And the early adopter Financial Times uses Progressive web app to enable users read the news even offline and provides consistent experience in content selection and usage.

In a nutshell, Progressive web applications are like Good old websites, except they are better and in par with mobile native apps. Using modern browser technologies, they are:

1. Discoverable – Can be searchable through search engines.

2. Installable – available on home screen without installation from app store.

3. Linkable – Share using a link.

4. Network Independent – work online and offline.

5. Progressive – regardless of browser choice (of course safari is yet to catchup)

6. Re-engaging – draws attention

7. Responsive – any screen size, desktop, mobile or tablet.

8. Safe – Has mechanism to prevent snooping.

In conclusion

So its suffice to say the apps landscape is changed forever and we need to rethink the way we approach building Mobile apps for existing applications. People with Native apps already have a website presence, a iOS and Andriod App so they anyway need to keep it updated. Instead of managing three it would be wise to manage one in this case PWA. However if someone dont have an app then its no brainer which one to choose while preparing for a scalable sustainable application. To know how you can benefit from using Progressive Web Applications please feel free to contact us here.

   Srivatsan Aravamudan

General Enquiries	:	info@psibertech.com.sg
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Telephone	:	+65 62689551
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   Business Analyst - Snr Software Consultant.

  PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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Don’t use Custom Software – Why & Why not

It’s not often you come across a post from a custom software company asking you not to use custom software and taking about its disadvantages. Well here you thought right it’s not conventional to do so. 

However, I am not going to paint a false picture promising you the land of rainbows and unicorns. There are situations where custom software is not the right fit and it does come with its own limitations of some sort. 

Let’s explore the most important scenarios in which you should not use custom software development. 

Cost:

Well just like the tailor-made suit costs different than a readymade suit, custom software does costs more. While it does address niche market requirement, not all company needs custom software for fulfilling their needs. If you can’t afford to invest in custom software, then find out the best possible off the shelf products closely meeting your requirement.

Time:

Good software takes time, especially if you are building from scratch. Custom software projects often take time to develop, from few months to few years depending on the complexity of the requirement at hand. So, if you wanted something yesterday custom software is not the right fit for you.

Expertise:
Unless you are sure about the consultant don’t embark on this custom software journey with inexperienced or insufficient internal IT team. Custom applications be it, client server, web apps or mobile apps takes a lot of expertise to design, build and maintain.

It’s vital to have a supportive consultant who can not only provide the right expertise but also maintain the application in the long run.

Last but not the least start with a clear objective and know where you want to go with custom software project. It’s a fantastic vehicle which can take your business to better places, however it is also like this costly car, which needs care and maintenance and does take time to build. However, if you are building the custom software for all the right reasons, then you are at the right place. We have a decade of experience in building enterprise custom software applications and can guide you in your journey. Please feel free to contact us here for a consultation session. Alternatively, you can browse here for the related topic of interest.

   Srivatsan Aravamudan

General Enquiries	:	info@psibertech.com.sg
Sales Enquiries	:	sales@psibertech.com.sg
Telephone	:	+65 62689551
Fax	:	+65 62689858

   Business Analyst - Snr Software Consultant.

  PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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IoT For SME (4/5) – Better Safe than Sorry

Thank you for all the feedback and support on IoT blog posts. We have been busy with some major deliveries and so I couldn’t write on this series on time. If you are coming across this IoT series post for the first time, I suggest you look at the earlier posts here. So, without further ado let me welcome you to the post on Security aspects of IoT for SME.

IoT is still in its primitive stage and hence could be tricky to build. And as with any complicated system reliability of IoT-enabled objects is debatable during the initial stage. Therefore, it is important to factor in the network outages or network issues into these components. Malicious or virus infection would be a devastating consequence in the IoT. A hacked IoT network is very disruptive and goes beyond the breaches of privacy.

The first step towards any security measure is understand the risk and have corrective and preventive actions. Strong security protocols need to be considered at the design stage. During your initial stage of the IoT journey make sure you work with a software development company that understands the implications.

Here is the list of things to clarify with your outsourced software development vendor.

1. Proactive, Security oriented approach to coding by choosing reliable solutions.

2. Using digital signatures to verify device’s software authenticity and integrity

3. Role based access control and physical access restriction to devices.

4. Device authentication credentials securely hashed in locked-down memory.

5. Strong encryption protocols for saving and transferring stored data.

6. Always separate the general traffic and traffic between IoT network and

7. Usage of open source and hacking events.

Although IoT could be lot to take in at this point of time, soon it will become the basic element such as use of internet banking or ecommerce. 

Often the in-house development team is insufficient to cater to gigantic needs of building a custom IoT software solution. Hence outsourcing to the right software consultant could be a better way of going about it. If you like to know more details on this topic, please click here. If you like to build a customized software solution using IoT please click here to contact us. Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.

   Srivatsan Aravamudan

General Enquiries	:	info@psibertech.com.sg
Sales Enquiries	:	sales@psibertech.com.sg
Telephone	:	+65 62689551
Fax	:	+65 62689858

   Business Analyst - Snr Software Consultant.

   PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

   Twitter 

   LinkedIn