PWA vs. React Native — What Should Businesses Prefer?

With mobile technologies on the boom, every company wants to jump on the mobile app bandwagon to sustain and expand their business. With many technologies to develop mobile apps come several advantages and disadvantages that companies must vary to make better decisions.

Choosing the right mobile technologies plays a vital role in the success of your app and reaping the benefits in the long run. With its unique offerings, cross-platform can be used to build mobile apps that run on different OSs sharing the same codebase while maintaining native-like experiences with reduced costs and speeder time-to-market.

Progressive Web Apps and React Native are two popular approaches for developing cross-platform applications that work best. However, they come with their pros and cons, which businesses must consider.

It is understandable to feel confused when choosing the right development path for your business. Therefore, in this blog, we will detail each approach, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both Progressive Web Applications and React Native, and discuss the specifics of how the individual development approach can benefit your business. But before that, let us glance at Progressive Web Apps (PWA). So let’s dive right in.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) act and feel like native mobile applications. They are a solution for developing web-based applications that rely on web app manifests and service workers to provide a website-like experience and fast loading.

Due to their web-based nature, they are best suited for businesses that wish to reach a large section of the audience and need engaging, connectivity-independent experiences. Additionally, their wide adoption across industries helps improve conversion rates and build a loyal customer base.

Advantages of PWA

• Apps are created using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Frameworks, standard web technologies.
• No active internet or data connection is needed to use the app.
• PWA apps get automatically updated, and no manual updating is required.
• PWAs are smaller in size when compared to native apps.
• App store rules do not apply to PWAs; hence can be used for any app idea.

Disadvantages of PWA

• It cannot be used for high-performance and multi-threaded operations
• It has fewer options for adding the latest hardware compatibility support
• Android-centric and do not operate on certain iOS browsers

React Native

React Native is an open-source JavaScript-based framework created by Facebook and used to develop cross-platform apps. The codebase can be used for iOS and Android without compromising user experience. Some popular social media apps developed using React Native are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and communication apps, such as Skype, Discord, etc.

Advantages of React Native

• Hardware features are unlimited for the app
• Availability of numerous tools and libraries
• Technology and support backed by Facebook
• Constant updates and improvements are available

Disadvantages of React Native

• App size can increase when you implement and use native features
• Must focus on maintenance to improve the app further and add new features
• Difficult to debug as the process can be tedious
• Costs may be higher than PWA

PWA and React Native: What to choose?

Choosing between the two can be challenging, and consider the pros and cons of each before making a choice. Firstly, the approach you wish to opt for depends on your application needs, budget, features you want, and target audience. PWAs and React Native are cheaper to develop when compared to native app development.

While React Native allows you to build native apps, you need native developers to make Android and iOS apps. So go for React Native if performance and access to device hardware features are essential and if you’re a startup looking to build a Minimum Viable Product before you wish to launch a full-scale native app.

On the other hand, PWA offers lightweight, easy update and install processes, features, and functionalities that are more than sufficient for an average app user. Unfortunately, PWAs are not included in the app store, and you will have to rely on the website or app users to download them.

Starting with a Progressive Web App makes sense unless your apps need APIs or features that are a part of native development platforms. Also, they are much easier to build and cheaper when compared to React Native apps.

Wrapping Up

PWA is the best approach if your business already has a popular business. However, if you have a slightly bigger budget and want an app close to a native app, you can go for React Native.

If you are still deciding what to choose, get in touch with an excellent mobile app development company to get a project estimate. A detailed discussion with the experts ensures that you make an informed decision and reap the benefits of whichever option you wish.