Native and Progressive Applications
Demand for Native and Progressive Web Applications to Constantly Enhance User Experience
Mobile technology and its applications interfacing with web or operating systems continue to trend towards faster loading speeds, easier-to-use applications and enhanced user experience. The value these apps have been supplying matters more than ever. Some of these key applications are given below.
What Are Native Applications?
Native Applications or sometimes referred to as fast applications, supply greater speeds of access to tools that are used by leveraging a device or function natural to an operating system. Native apps apply core languages to certain platforms, enhancing security features, data protection, and simpler UI logic. This makes code easier to maintain and utilizes tools built into OS. For Native mobile app development, the app architecture differs across different platforms. Apple’s iOS relies on programming languages like Objective-C and Swift, while Android uses Java and Kotlin.
Apple’s iOS builds off MVC (Model + View + Controller) for its app architecture, where the user is the center focus of how they view elements of an interface and how they exercise control in some models. As for a Native Android app, the knowledge of multithreading and software patterns creates a better user experience, and the app architecture depends on the environment used. Within these platforms, native mobile and mobile device applications can range from accelerometers to camera features and GPS. Supporting functions such as navigating a map application to reach a given location efficiently or capturing a high-quality photo for personal use or sharing on the web.
Pros and Cons of Native Applications
Patent Publishing Trend - Native Applications
Patent publications for Native Applications have seen quite an increase between 2013 and 2017. From 2017 to 2021, there were slight ups and downs but consistent publications between the years.
An area of note comes from changes seen in native applications through cloud-native apps. These applications have gained more ground as cloud-native microservices, and using them to supplement app architecture has become more popular. Cloud-native apps enable less downtime for an end user and help with the ever-growing need to support more people on online platforms.
What Are Progressive Web Applications (PWAs)
PWAs
Progressive Web applications (PWAs) use the web to enhance the user experience, having design and functionality features. Through this, PWA navigates the web as desired and makes a change toward the values that applications provide. Although it can fall behind the speeds some native applications may provide, PWAs have many advantages. The cost to make a native application for an OS can be pretty significant. Hence, a progressive app is an application that wants to cater to the mobile experience without a significant cost.
Another benefit follows from search trends. As browser searches switch to mobile-based top hits vs. website-based hits on some interfaces, as in the case of Google post-2021, search engine results follow mobile-based indexing. PWAs supplement such a change, combining with changes to mobile and web interfaces and supplying flexibility for searches, builds, and overall ease of the mobile front.
Several features that combine to make PWAs possible are listed below.
Web Manifest
It should hold the essential details on the PWA, including the application’s name, the URL to open the app, some configuration, the orientation of the application, and display modes.
Web Assembly
This takes precompiled code and allows it to run smoothly. Coding language can affect processing – C and JavaScript are some options, but some might take too much runtime when loading an application.
Data Storage
Due to how data is stored and retrieved, it is vital to store information dynamically or as needed. Short-term and long-term storage capabilities and keeping search queries are a part of the process.
Service Workers
They enable fast loading times with both offline and online access. They help with the ever-needed push notifications on devices to keep consumers updated.
Benefits of Progressive Web Applications
Popular PWA Examples
Hulu developed a PWA to replace a desktop application they used to have, which had poor output and was disliked by users. They adjusted their legacy applications to follow suit. The results led them to increase the returning visitor count by 27% and increase user engagement with their website. The ease with which a regular application can be changed to fit the needs of a company, as well as the affordability of those changes provided by progressive apps, makes them a great tool, whether using a web or mobile interface.
Another example of PWAs comes from the present-day use in streaming platforms, such as Twitch or YouTube streaming and cloud gaming. From 2021, lots of applications that launched have followed progressive apps as a base, where browsers and devices can allow gaming and streaming features. Apple technology, Android, and Facebook Gaming all offer cloud systems using PWAs to fulfill their needs across platforms.
Patent Publishing Trend – PWAs
PWAs have seen fewer patent publications than native applications, but they have seen a steady increase in publications from 2018 through 2021, indicating their growth.
Hybrid Applications
As the name suggests, this is a combination application, typically web applications mixed with native applications. In mobiles, hybrid app development provides a seamless experience using a mix of progressive web and native app technologies. Instagram is a prime example where the HTML5 elements allow easy access as a user interface and can work online and offline like PWAs. The center of hybrid applications follows from some applications written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript paired with an embedded browser.
While native apps and web-only technologies may often contain limitations for accessing a device or middling performance, hybrid applications can act as the path to better versions for both. Hybrid apps have better access to plugins, better performance, modularity, and cross-platform support than their singular counterparts. Uber and Twitter are other hybrid applications that benefit from the model.
Conclusion
All these applications continue to expand, combine, and change the structure of existing platforms. Whether applied to the cloud, browsers, offline, or desktops, they morph the user experience into what keeps users engaged. Hybrid mobile apps indeed hold the way forward, benefiting from the best performance of native and progressive applications, but the future of mobile interfaces shifts constantly; with personalization and AI features being integrated, the next generation of applications will provide a much different experience.
Author
Sang Jin
Associate Consultant at Lumenci
SangJin is an associate consultant at Lumenci with experience in mobile applications and software development. His work at Lumenci focuses on source code review and product testing of various mobile devices and software technologies. He holds a bachelor of science in computer science and is a computer science graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.