The Hussey Coding blog: PWA

Showing posts with label PWA. Show all posts

9 December 2019

The pros & cons of PWA

Welcome back everyone to the

Hussey Coding blog.

Over the last few weeks, we've been focusing on some of the main features of PWA. So to finish off our series, we'll be looking at some of the other things that make PWA one of the most talked-about technologies to date, along with some things that are maybe not so great about them. Today we'll be looking at...

PWA really does seem to be the best of both worlds. Combining the reach and capabilities of the web browser with the ease of interaction that comes from native apps, PWA's are faster, bigger and stronger, costing much less to build than the traditional methods of having separate websites and apps.
The secret is that it all comes from one codebase. There is no longer a need to develop an app for iOS and Android separately while also developing a website. As long as your user has access to the internet, then they can access your PWA at any time, accessing all the advantages that come with it. Perks like once the PWA is downloaded to their smart device or desktop they won't even need an internet connection to use it. This is thanks to the cache and service worker doing their thing in the background.

Of course, another advantage of creating everything together is that it reduces costs. You don't need 3-4 teams of developers and programmers working on the same content now for different platforms, seriously reducing your expenses. Your deploy times are reduced too as you won't need to wait for approval from the store owners, once your PWA is ready to go then, it's ready to go. If that wasn't enough, there are no cuts to pay to the stores either so that 30% you used to have to pay to Apple for special features in your app has just been wiped out! While it is a huge advantage to not have to submit your PWA to the app store, it will come with some slight disadvantages too.

Firstly you will not benefit from app store traffic, whereas before you would compete to become the best app in the store by gaining more users etc. This is now not possible for you to do. Having said that it's not actually all that bad since on the one hand, you may be losing AST but, on the other, you are gaining SEO! Progressive web apps are basically websites that look like apps and as such are now subject to Search engine optimisation!
Google has even factored PWA into their ranking formula. This means that if you are operating a PWA site then, you're about to be bumped up the SEO ladder making it easier for people to find your store.

The second disadvantage of not submitting to the app store is that, as far as we can tell, it would be extremely difficult to monetise PWA's. Unlike native apps, you can't charge someone to download your game or service so that initial source of revenue is gone but again this is not really a huge deal as in-app purchases are still possible.

But what about the browser? The short answer is that it doesn't matter. You could be using firefox, explorer, chrome or whatever, PWA will still work as they are websites but better and their better because they are progressive. That means that as your browser gets more impressive, so does your PWA, as the browser becomes more advanced, so does your PWA but wait there's more! Not only are they progressive, but they are always compatible too. It makes no difference what version of chrome you have, how old your firefox is or when you last updated internet explorer! PWA's will always adjust and work on that version of your browser, in short, there's almost no stopping these things!

There is also the added bonus of your website now having access to push notifications! Push notifications are those messages that pop up on your phone no matter what you're doing. You could be texting when your favourite game tells you your farm has finished building or you're using the sat nav and get a news update appear on your screen.
Imagine the kind of difference that could make to conversions in sales if your website was able to do that through PWA! Has Susie left items in her cart? No worries, send a push notification. Worried that Matt isn't aware of your latest sale? Not a problem, just push notifications to his phone, and he'll be right there! And it isn't specific to sales either, want to tell people your latest blog is live? Send a reminder for the latest meet up? Or have some exciting news to share with your audience? PWA has your back!

When researching PWA, we came across this split in the community as to whether PWA's can function alongside or fully integrate/interact with other features on a users device. Things like accessing Bluetooth or the devices camera or geolocation features are just some of the features in question. With some ingenuity and out of the box thinking, anything is possible. As we've said in a previous blog, even IF this is next to impossible now, just give it time. There was a time not so long ago when native apps couldn't interact with each other but now you can play your favourite game using your Facebook account while using your camera to take a new profile picture all at the same time. In short, if it's not possible now just give it time, someone somewhere will fix it at some point!

Thank you as always for letting us be a part of your day. Listed below are all of our contact details should you want to get in touch with us here at Hussey Coding. There are also some links to Developer Connection, the new Magento project marketplace, where you can sign up now to be a part of something great! If you missed any of the articles in our PWA series, you can find the links below our contact details. Please feel free to read, like, comment, share and repost any or all of them, we would really appreciate the support!
Until next time, stay safe and have a great day.

You can also join all the fun on our various social media profiles
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Sign up to developer connection at www.developerconnection.co.uk
Facebook - facebook.com/DeveloperConnection
Twitter - twitter.com/devconnectionuk
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PWA SERIES
1. PWA - What's all the fuss about?
2. PWA Speed - Websites vs PWA
3. Interacting with PWA
4. PWA's are they really reliable?
5. PWA, what does it cost?

2 December 2019

PWA, what does it cost?

Hello all and welcome back to another blog by

Hussey Coding

Today we're going to be continuing our series looking at PWA. So far we've looked at speed, interaction and reliability, and seen that for the most part, PWA seems to be ruling the roost. But what about the price tag?

In today's blog, we ask the question ...

First of all, we need to take into consideration that Magento seems to be a step behind when it comes to the world of PWA, the buzz around PWA has been building for quite some time now, and there are some apps like Twitter lite for example that have been running as PWA's since 2017.

Why does that matter? Well since the technology is new to the Magento community that's going to take time for everyone to catch up. Developers will take longer to create a PWA now in comparison to this time next year. By then they will all probably be familiar with how they work and can design them much quicker, so if time is money, then the more time it takes, the more money you pay.

Now just because Magento is late to the party, it doesn't mean that the folks over at Adobe are just resting back wishing they were first in line, on the contrary, in 2018 they released Magento PWA studio, a set of tools designed to help developers quickly learn new methods and develop old ones in order to create a PWA site, click the link to find out more (PWA Studio).

Another benefit of PWA is that overall they are cheaper to produce compared to the native app. Traditionally if you wanted to expand to mobile, you'd need to have both a website and a native app, employing developers for both projects. However, if you want your app available on both iOS and Android app stores, they would count as two separate projects and require two teams of developers to complete. Then you would need to submit your app for review and acceptance, needing to change things as you went depending on the feedback of the app stores.
With PWA that all changes! You just need the one team, this will automatically cut the cost dramatically as you will need fewer developers/programmers to do the work. On top of that, since you would not be submitting your PWA to the devices app store, you also won't need to go through the hassle of trying to get it approved, once it's done you can just go live with it.

But what about the numbers? Sadly we've not been able to find a definitive starting price. What I can tell you is that after some online fishing (the OK kind not the cybercrime kind) the lowest estimate is about £2,300 climbing to anywhere between £700,000 and £800,000. It's worth noting, however, that the higher end numbers are assuming that you would need to create a PWA from scratch, and the lower numbers are assuming that you have something to work with already or using a tool such as PWA studio.

The reality is that it's all subjective, is it cheaper to create a PWA rather than a native app? Yes, yes it is, however, that doesn't mean that PWA is cheap! To some of you looking at these figures, you're thinking "I could never afford that!" To others, you may be thinking " Yeah, that's doable for our company." What's important to remember here is that PWA is still new, there are still things to learn. The best way to find out if you can afford to jump on the PWA train is to connect with developers and talk through your companies needs.

Speaking of connecting with developers, the new Magento project marketplace Developerconnection.co.uk is full of store owners needing projects completed and skilled developers waiting to meet those needs. It's a great place to connect and build long-lasting, professional relationships. The easy to use, detailed project creation form guarantees that any store owner will be matched to the most qualified developer or team for their projects needs and, in keeping with today's blog's theme, I'd do well to remind you that Developer Connection takes 0% commission or cut at all from any work done, clients and developers are free to connect and contact each other outside of the service and all costs are clearly posted on the website for all to see. Follow this link now to see how Developer Connection compares to other sites such as UpWork, TopTal, Commerce Hero and more - HOW WE COMPARE.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your day today! We hope you've found this blog useful, feel free to leave your comments below or hop on over to our various social media profiles, listed below, to join in the conversation.
Until then, stay safe and have a great day.

25 November 2019

PWA are they really reliable?

Hey there and welcome back to another blog

by Hussey Coding.

PWA's are all the rage right now, it's what most people in the world of web and technology are talking about. If you've been following us here at Hussey Coding, you'll know that we're also talking about this new development.

Over the last few weeks, we've taken a look at what PWA's are? (PWA - What's all the fuss about?), they're speed (PWA speed - Websites vs PWA) and recently what they are like to interact with (Interacting with PWA). Today we will ask a new question of PWA's, having all the speed and appearance of a native app is great but what we really want to know is ...

Maybe a better way to answer this question is to first ask what is it to be reliable? According to the dictionary, reliability is

"the quality of being trustworthy or of performing consistently well."

So the question we are really asking here is, do PWA's perform consistently well?

We all know that the mobile web browser doesn't always deliver in this department. How often have we gone to our favourite store or site just to see the very cute yet very frustrating downasaur?

You don't really get that so much with native apps. But it can often be the case that on your commute or during lunch, you go to use your favourite app, to find that you need to download the newest version, which takes up all your time!

PWA's look to combat both these issues and more!

As frustrating as it is seeing the downasaur, it's even more frustrating when it's displaying on your website. With the average person abandoning the site altogether after the first 3 seconds, you could be losing out on valuable sales and traffic.

One of the best things about PWA's is that they work offline, yes you read right, they work offline!

They do this by saving some of the app's resources in the cache, meaning that they will always be accessible and run smoothly and quickly. Now it's important to point out that maybe not every single part of the PWA will be accessible, but you'll still get that desktop-level speed and reach to those areas that are, giving your users the ability to browse, add to cart and in some cases even purchase items all while being offline!

They also update themselves! I say they update themselves; what I really mean is that developers do all the updating behind the scenes (like the coding ninja's they are). This means that the user doesn't need to keep downloading updates all the time.

In fact, as soon as a users mobile device connects to the internet, the PWA will begin to update automatically in the background. This means that the next time the user opens up the PWA, it will be the latest, most up to date version of that app! The only caveat here is the user may need to grant the app permission to do so in their settings.

BUT WAIT, there's more! Since this is a web application, all of the updates will be accessible to anyone with an internet connection regardless of device, model or web browser!

If you've been with us for a while now, you'll have been reading our series on cybersecurity. Looking at how important it is, our list of common cyber attacks to look out for and our list of things to help you better secure your stores. If you missed any of them, we've posted the links to the series below.

With this in mind, is PWA secure? Being a hybrid of web and native can they be secure? The answer is yes! A tremendous advantage to PWA is that they originate on the web, which means they have HTTPS access, this is an important step up in security over native apps. Obviously, cybersecurity is never guaranteed, even the most secure of sites and stores come under attack and at some point hackers will go after PWA, but for the moment, those little magic padlocks are there to help.

Speaking of being there to help, are you looking for a developer or a team of developers for your next Magento project?

Look no further than Developer Connection, your first port of call for all your Magento project needs. Come and connect with skilled developers, find the right match for your project and build professional relationships that will last a lifetime! Head to www.developerconnection.co.uk now to sign up to the community you never knew you missed!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this blog. Please leave a comment, share and like this post to show your support and don't forget the links for our security blogs are posted just below our contact details.

We hope to hear from you soon but until then, stay safe and have a great day.

Security blogs
1. Cybercrime 101 - What you need to know
2. Taking security seriously
3. 6 Common cyberattacks to watch out for
4. 5 easy steps to better security
5. Another 5 tips to secure your store
6. Creating stronger passwords
7. The response plan
8. In the aftermath of a cyberattack
9. David Deppner talks security

19 November 2019

Interacting with PWA

Hello and welcome back to another mini blog by

the Hussey Coding team.

Last week we looked at the speed of PWA vs the speed of the mobile browser and came to the conclusion that PWA's seem to be faster, which is very exciting! But, is that the only thing that PWA can boast? Is it a one-trick pony? or is there more?
In today's blog, we're talking all about ...

Interaction is all about the user's experience. PWA's boast is that it can increase the ease of engagement, make the interaction smoother and improve the overall quality of service for its user. How do they do this? I'm glad you asked.

PWA's are designed to look and feel like native apps, so there is no need for the user to go to the browser at all. Depending on how the PWA is set up the user will be given the option to install the "app", then on their home screen, they will find an icon with a title and logo or image representing the company, just like a native app.

But it doesn't stop there!

Just one push of this icon will open up the freshly installed PWA, they will see a splash screen, like a native app, and when it is fully loaded, it will look like an app!

Let's be clear here, this is not a desktop shortcut or hyperlink.

The icon will not transport the user to the browser and open up a webpage, it will open and give the user the illusion that they are using a native app. No browser controls, smooth scrolling, it's available in the task list and since it's progressive, it doesn't need to install everything all in one go making PWA's much smaller compared to native apps saving the user space on their phone. In short, you have the power and the reach of the web browser combined with the ease and functionality of a native app!

But wait there's more!!!

PWA's can now be published in the Google store so, users don't have to go to the browser to get them. But even if they did need to go to the browser, PWA's can be easily found using your browsers search engine. Google considers PWA's to be such an important part of our future that they are more likely to promote a PWA site due to its increased speed and engagement. This will automatically improve your Google ranking score, helping your SEO team a whole lot!

Now, it needs to be noted here that it's not all sunshine and lollipops. There are one or two downsides that include PWA's inability to interact with all the features on a smart device, things like the camera or Bluetooth for example. However, there was a time when native apps couldn't do those things either so, it's my opinion that the inabilities of today are the memories of tomorrow when it comes to PWA.

Overall PWA looks to change the way we shop, browse and generally use our smart devices, it's looked at all that we have and seems to have taken the best from both worlds and aims to offer customers and users the best possible experience in mobile shopping.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this blog, we here at Hussey Coding appreciate the support and we would love to hear from you so please leave a comment or message below or hop on over to our social media profiles, listed below, to join in the conversation.

Don't forget that Developer Connection, the new Magento project marketplace is up and running NOW! A great place to find skilled developers, fast and hassle-free! Just follow the link below.

Until then, stay safe and have a great day.

11 November 2019

PWA Speed - Websites vs PWA

Hi there and welcome back to another

blog by Hussey Coding.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be taking a looking at some of the things that make PWA so attractive. This new-ish technology has everyone, not just the Magento community, but in the eCommerce community all of a buzz.

We'll be covering all of the main components of PWA that seek to convince us to invest in this new way. First off we'll be talking about speed!

As I'm sure you all know, time is money, the more time it takes you to produce a product or service then the less time you have to sell it and inevitably the less money you make on it. The same is true for your website, the longer it takes to load the less likely the user is to stick around.
Staggeringly the average user will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load! To put that into perspective for you, if that sentence was a loading website, then those users would have abandoned it around "website if it takes".

Users expect sites to load quickly and give an all-round satisfying experience, but we all know that websites aren't always the quickest or easiest to navigate, especially on mobile, which is why we have apps.
But as good and effective as apps are, not everyone can afford to make one. Apps can sometimes hit the same issues as websites and even though an average user can have up to 80+ apps installed on their smartphone, they only make use of between 9-12 regularly and, of those the majority are social media apps.
But what if we could have the convenience of an app with the power of the website? Enter PWA.

PWA's boast incredible loading speeds and there are some great success stories out there, one of a store in Africa called Jumia who reported that their bounce rate was reduced by 50% thanks to PWA meaning that because their page loaded quicker fewer people left the site.
Lancome is another champion of PWA. They reported an incredible 84% decrease in loading time! Bringing about an impressive conversion rate.
In short PWA's have a faster loading ability compared to websites that do not use this technology.

We all expect our apps to scroll smoothly, open quickly and work perfectly. Now with the power of PWA combining both native app and website, it not only looks like we might be getting it, but it's coming at lightning speed!

Thanks for taking the time to read this mini-blog, we appreciate your support. If you would like to support us further, then please head to our social media profiles listed below and like, subscribe and join in all the fun, we would love to hear from you. Until then, stay safe and have a great day.

5 November 2019

PWA - What's all the fuss about?

Hello and welcome back to another edition of

the Hussey Coding blog.

Today we start a new series all about this exciting phrase that is making it's way to the forefront of the Magento conversation, Progressive Web Apps!

We've all been there, right? Sitting at our desks just willing for the page to load or remembering that we need to buy that special gift for someone but, we have no internet connection! Maybe spending hours thinking and trying different things to engage with our customers and in all cases, getting nowhere fast!
PWA looks to change that, boasting speedier speeds, incredible integration, superior engagement and reliability more reliable than the most reliable reliability robot! Which is great, but what is it? Is it an app? is it a webpage? or is it something totally new?

Truth be told, it's all of the above. PWA's are websites that function as apps and though the idea of PWA's have been around a while, in the grand scheme of things it is all-new, especially to the world of Magento.

A PWA will take your website and make it look and feel like a 'native app'. Native apps are the apps that live on your phone or desktop, they are incredibly complicated to create and, they're even more costly to produce and maintain. However, the majority of the world find native apps to be faster, simpler and better to use than web-based sites.

One of the more substantial costs in developing a native app is the need to build one for every store you want to sell in, IOS, android, windows etc. That's 3 dev teams to create the same app for 3 different stores! PWA eliminates that, making it possible to create the 1 app that will roll out to every store. Also, they work for everyone across the board! It doesn't matter what browser your customers are using firefox, chrome, internet explorer or anything else, PWA's work on all of them. The term "progressive" means that the app will grow and adapt as new web technologies become available. This enhances the user's experience depending on the browser's abilities but also means that they will still work with older web browsers too.

PWA's boast many things, faster page loading, the ability to work offline, greater consistency across the application and does it all while looking and feeling like a native app! Allowing customers to easily install your companies website onto their smartphone or mobile device at the tap of an icon.
So far, all the buzz surrounding PWA's has been great, but are they really worth it? What is the overall benefit of going PWA? and is it really that much easier and/or cheaper to invest in than native apps?
All of these questions and more will be answered over the next few weeks as we here at Hussey Coding delve deeper into the workings behind this new technology.

Thank you for taking the time to read our intro blog, please let us know what you thought, are there any questions you have about PWA that you'd like us to cover? Head down the page and leave us your comments. Alternatively, you can reach us using any of our contact details below but until then, stay safe and have a great day.

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