The reasons why Ionic is the perfect pick for developing PWAs?
A
progressive Web Application (PWA) isa disruptive innovation that has redefined
the basic tenets of the web experience in smartphones. It is an ingenious blend
of the best of both worlds – responsive websites and native mobile
applications. Needless to say, PWAs are gaining momentum and are predicted to
be the next big thing in the realm ofmobile app development. Switching to PWAs
turned out to be highly profitable for several biggies as users started to spend
more time on PWAs. Take a look at some of the success stories of PWA adoption.
Flipkart experienced an increase of 40% in the
reengagement rate and 70% in the conversion rate!
Twitter succeeded in getting down the bounce
rate by 20% and increasing the pages per session by 65%!
The click rate in “trivago” shot up by 97% and
there was a 50% hike in the user engagement!
Hence, the
rate of PWA adoption is rising and it has been observed that most businesses prefer
to hire an Ionic app Development Company for executing their PWA development
project. Business enterprises like Facebook, Tinder, BookMyShow, Starbucks, Forbes,
Pinterest, and Uber have successfully expanded their customer base with the
help of Ionic PWAs.
In this
blog, I have penned down the reasons why Ionic, is one of those frameworks that
prove beneficial for PWA development. But before we dive deeper, let me
enlighten you about Ionic and PWAs.
Ionic in nutshell
Ionic is an open-sourced SDK for creating Hybrid applications. It is built in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5 and has AngularJS as its base. It not only possesses TypeScript extensions and Cordova plugins but also offers numerous native device features like Fingerprint Authorization, HealthKit, Bluetooth, etc. This enables the Ionic app developers to architect futuristic apps with ease.
Insights on PWA
A PWAis an application software that is delivered via the weband works like native apps. Introduced by Google in 2015,it has been built using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, and designed to work for platforms using standard-compliant browsers. PWAs are easily accessible and discoverable like web apps, are convenient like mobile apps, are easy to install, affordable,and display unparalleled performance. A PWA installed in your device, utilizes the cached data from earlier interactionsto functionin an offline mode and thereby addressesproblems like connectivity issues and lack of a stable connection.
The X Factor in Ionic that facilitates PWA
development
Take a look at the top reasons to leverage Ionic development services for developing PWAs.
Angular
Support
Ionic
enjoys the support of Angular, which is known for its ability to develop
exceedingly interactive mobile and web applications. Angular’s component
APIforms the foundation of the Ionic framework and AngularJS provides the
sentence structure extensions of HTML to Ionic. These goodies help Ionic
developers add amazing and user-friendly functionalities to the app.
A Free and Open-Source Framework
As Ionic is open-sourced, managing the code structure becomes super-easy,
resulting in a faster, and budget-friendly development. Moreover, Ionic is
authorized under the MIT license and is merged with mobile-optimized codes of
JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5 components.
Cross-paltform Compatibility
Ionic, being platform-independent leads to the creation of apps that run
seamlessly on the major operating systems- Windows, iOS, and Android.When these
applications are deployed via Apache Cordova with a single codebase, they automatically
adapt themselves to the platform or device they are functioning in.
A Captivating UI
Ionic’s re-adaptable and reusable UI elements help to create visually
attractive interfaces. Furthermore, Ionic adds pre-defined CSS classes to
modify and customize the major components like buttons, caches, navigation,
form inputs, sliding menu, and pop-ups.
A Strong CLI
Ionic’s Strong CLI(Command Line Interface) enables creating, building,
testing, debugging, and deploying applications with ease. The CLI also ensures
faster installation due to reduced dependencies thereby enhancing performance as
well.
Cordova Plugins
Ionic is an HTML5 framework and so requires a native wrapper to function
like native apps. Cordova, a bunch of command-line tools, and the plugin bridge
acts as a native wrapper and also enables easy access to native-like device
features such as GPS, camera, etc.
Remote updating
Earlier, the developers followed the traditional approach of posting
updates on the App Store and thenleft it to the client’s discretion whether
they are going to update the app or not. However, things changed with the
advent of Ionic empowered Hybrid apps. Since Hybrid apps function within a web
view, developers can now remotely update the app at the web layer outside the
app store, using smart tools such as PhoneGap ContentSync, Ionic Deploy,etc
Community Support
The Ionic community comprises of more than 5 million developers around the
globe. Community Forum, World Wide Slack, Stack Overflow,and GitHub are some of
the forums that answer developer queries and provide them the necessary guidance.
Ionic
PWA
development: Steps to get started
It’s time
for some practical advice on getting started! Follow these steps.
- Downloading Ionic and
installing the dependencies that are necessary for it.
- Downloading Node.js6 LTS and
NPM 3+ installers and installing Ionic CLI globally.
- Using Ionic start to begin a
new project.
- Running ionic serves and
integrating Ionic with Cordova.
Now, the Ionic app is ready for use. The next step is to add Service Worker and Web Manifest to convert Ionic into a Progressive Web App. Service workers are nothing but the scripts that provide offline functionality, caching features, synchronization in background, push notifications, etc. Web Manifest provides info in the JSON text file about the application.
Pieces of advice on Ionic PWA development
Would like
some usefultips on Ionic PWA development? Well then, this is for you!
- Gather more insights and go through the basic
tutorials from the PWA Resource Page.
- Whitepaper:
The Architect’s Guide to PWAs provides practical guidance on project development
and the projects best suited for PWA.
- PWA Toolkit provides information about the best practices of Ionic PWA development.
The alternative frameworks, for PWA
development
Other than Ionic, Xamarin and React Native can also be used to develop PWAs. React Native development uses JavaScript and ReactJS, while C# and .Net are used for Xamarin.
Final Verdict:
This blog must have given you
panoramic insights on Ionic PWA development and you must have realized why the
big market players have opted for Ionic, despite the availability of other
options. Ionic creates versatile PWAs
with an outstanding UI and UX, using standard tools and a single codebase.
Hence, Ionic PWAs enables enterprises to explore new horizons, cater to the
demanding requirements of present-day customers, and at the same time ensure a
cost-efficient development. Would like to architect Progressive Web
Applications with the help of an Ionic Development Company? Reach us!


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