Architecting a Progressive Web App using React Native: Step by Step Guidance!
A Progressive Web Application (PWA) is a
disruptive innovation that integrates the functionality of a native mobile app
and the usability of a responsive website. Several business brands have
harnessed the goodies of PWAs to reach unprecedented heights of success.
Take a look at the success stories of the
following brands on account of PWA adoption, as published by the online
research portal “Cloud Four”.
- ‘Flipkart’ experienced a 40% increase in the re-engagement rate.
- ‘5miles’ were able to reduce the bounce rate by 50% and boost the
conversion rate by 30%.
- With their new PWA, ‘Tinder’s’ load times decreased from 11.91 sec
to 4.69 sec and also, the engagement rate shot up. Besides, the PWA is 90%
smaller as compared to their native Android app.
- Twitter’ witnessed a 65% spike in the pages per session, a 75%
increase in Tweets, and a 20% decrease in the bounce rate.
- ‘Forbes’ experienced a 43% increase in the sessions per user, a 20%
boost in the ad viewability, and a 100% spike in the engagement rate.
Thus, it is evident that progressive web
app development is successfully fulfilling the demanding user expectations and
challenging business requirements of modern times.
So, if you too are one of those planning to
build a PWA, the obvious question that will crop up in your mind is, “Which
framework is best suited for PWA development?” Many, businesses and corporates
prefer React Native for end-to-end PWA development and hire efficient React Native
developers for the same.
This blog guides you through crafting a PWA
using the React Native Framework. But before we commence, let me enlighten you
on some crucial facts about PWAs and the reasons to choose React Native
Development.
Progressive Web App (PWA): Unique
Strengths
The usual websites can be conveniently
accessed from any device or browser, but they fail to leverage the
platform-specific hardware that ensures high-performance. Native apps, on the
other hand, can completely utilize the platform-specific hardware and software
capacities to optimize performance but are available only for the particular
platform for which they are designed. But, progressive web applications combine
the best of both worlds and are known for delivering a native app-like
experience in the browser. The distinct capabilities of this futuristic
software solution are as follows.
- Delivers a native-like
experience.
- Loads instantly and promptly
respond to user inputs.
- Integrates push notifications
for maximizing user engagement.
- Offers a highly responsive UI
and consistent UX across mobile phones, tablets, and PCs.
- Integrates with users’ devices
and utilizes the device capabilities to the fullest for delivering improved
performance.
- Employs cached data from
earlier interactions to provide offline access to content and certain features.
- Are easily discoverable and can
be installed by simply clicking a pop-up without having to visit the app store.
- Possesses cross-platform
compatibility and involves a cost-efficient developmental cycle.
- Is reliable and secure.
- Takes up less storage memory.
Why choose React Native Development
for PWA Creation?
React Native is considered to be an apt
progressive web app framework as it proves immensely advantageous for
developers. Let’s peek into the reasons:
- It is a JavaScript library
containing multiple in-built packages and ready-to-use plugins.
- The ‘create-react-app’package
helps in configuring the app with ready-to-use features. This speeds up
development and makes it possible to create a PWA in real-time.
- The SW-Precache-Webpack-plugin
enables the creation of highly functional PWAs decked up with rich features.
Besides, the fact that this plugin is integrated with create-react-app, eases
out things further.
Thus, if a PWA is built using React Native,
the end-product becomes more progressive with lesser efforts.
Key Steps on Creating a PWA with
React Native
Check out the key requirements for PWA
creation.
Adoption of a Secure Network
Connection
Adopting a secure network connection for
PWA creation ensures security and helps you to gain users’ trust. Sometime
back, the Google team had declared HTTP web pages as not safe and secure and
had advised going for an HTTPS connection that is more secure. So, it is
essential that mobile app companies opt for HTTPS connection while developing
PWA. For using HTTPS, one can employ service workers, thus, activating home
screen installations.
Implementing the “Add to Home Screen” Option
After you serve the web on HTTPS, do not
forget to implement the “Add to Home Screen” option for your users. This move
is sure to improve the user experience and as such, expedite the conversion
rate for your brand. To execute this task you need to add a Web App Manifest or
manifest.json file to the PWA.
Employing Web App Manifest
Adding the manifest.json file to the app’s
root directory allows the users to install the app on their smartphones
effortlessly. It should contain details such as name, icons, description as
well as a splash screen for the application. The manifest.json file can either
be written by your React Native Developers or created employing a tool. This
file consists of metadata in a public folder that controls the app’s visual
appearance on the home screen of users.
So, given below are key terms used while coding
manifest.js . (Let’s assume that your app’s name is Dizon)
- Short_name: The name of the app
(Dizon) is displayed when you add it to the users’ home screen.
- Name: Browser uses this name
when users add the application to their home screen. It is displayed as “Add Dizon to Home Screen.”
- Icons: The icon of your app is
visible on the users’ home screens.
- Start_url: It is the URL that
specifies the starting point of the PWA.
- Theme_color: It regulates the
toolbar color of the users’ browser.
- Background color: When the app
is launched, the background color of the splash screen can be changed.
- Display: This feature enables
one to tweak the browser view and you may run the app on a separate window or a
full screen.
Implementing Custom Splash Screen
Whenever users launch a PWA on their
Android devices, a white screen is displayed till the app is ready for use.
This white blank screen is visible for a longer time, hence implementing a
custom splash screen is important to get a better user experience. Custom splash screen enables you to
employ an icon displaying your brand and a custom background for the PWA,
imparting a native-like look and feel.
Usage of Pusher to add Real-time Functionalities
A React
Native App Development Company should employ Pusher to add Real-time
functionalities in their PWA. This is so because Pusher simplifies the task of binding the UI interactions to
the events which are triggered by the server or the client. The setup process
involves:
- Logging in to the dashboard and
building a new app
- Copying the app_id, secret,
key, cluster and then store these for future usage.
- Setting up a server in node.js
which will assist in triggering events using Pusher.
- Creating a file called
‘server.js’ in the project’s root directory with the required content. Further
details can be viewed in this linked
content by Pusher
Integrating a Service Worker
A PWA development
company needs to integrate a service worker - a script running in the
background that does not interact with the actual app. Its function is to
regulate installations, push notifications, caching, etc. Service Workers play
a vital role by intercepting the network requests in the background and caching
information to facilitate offline usage.
Auditing the Code with Lighthouse
Auditing the code with Google’s automated
open-source tool called Lighthouse will help a Web App Development Company in
monitoring the performance of a web application. This tool runs multiple tests
for examining the performance, accessibility, etc. of a web app and generates a
report for the same. These reports prove
useful in fixing the weak aspects of the PWA like performance, best practices,
accessibility, etc. Additionally, the Lighthouse plugin guides on
resolving the issues and thus, improving performance.
Final Verdict:
React Progressive Web Applications help
businesses across diverse domains establish their digital footprints
successfully. In today’s smartphone dominated world, PWAs have become an
absolute necessity for businesses to gain loyal and happy customers. Therefore,
if you are planning to develop a web app or a website, it is advisable to
deploy the same as a PWA as it adds convenience to the users and hence improves
the user engagement and experience.
I
hope this blog was beneficial.
Do
share your opinions and experiences on PWAs in the comments section.
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