Progressive Web App Development
App-like experiences you can install and use offline — built on the web, without two separate native builds to pay for
What a progressive web app actually is
A progressive web app is a website that behaves like an installed app. Visitors add it to their home screen straight from the browser, it opens full-screen without the address bar, it keeps working when the signal drops, and it can send notifications. There's no download from the App Store or Google Play, no review process, and no separate codebase for each phone. The same app runs on an iPhone, an Android handset and a desktop.
For a lot of businesses that's the sensible middle ground. You get most of what people expect from a native app without paying to build and maintain two of them.
When a PWA is the right call
A progressive web app earns its keep when the experience matters more than deep access to the phone's hardware. A few situations where we'd suggest one:
- You've been quoted separately for an iOS app and an Android app and the numbers don't stack up
- Field, site or warehouse staff need a tool that keeps working where the signal is patchy
- You want a home-screen icon and the odd push notification, but not the overhead of the app stores
- Customers should be able to start using it instantly from a link, with no install step in the way
- You're already planning a website and want it to double as the app rather than building both
What we build into it
Installs from the browser
A prompt to add the app to the home screen, its own icon, and a full-screen launch — so it sits alongside native apps and opens the same way.
Works when the connection doesn't
The app shell and recent data are cached on the device, so it loads on a weak signal and doesn't fall over the moment someone walks into a lift or a basement.
Push notifications
Re-engage people with order updates, reminders or alerts, where it suits the job — without nagging them or burying the signal in noise.
Fast to open, every time
Cached assets mean repeat visits start almost instantly. There's more on the groundwork behind that on our website speed optimisation page.
One codebase, every screen
Phone, tablet and desktop run the same app. That builds on solid responsive design rather than bolting a mobile layout on afterwards.
Tied into your systems
The app talks to your data and the services you already use through proper APIs and integrations, so it isn't a shop window with nothing behind it.
PWA or a native app?
We won't push a progressive web app at a problem that needs a native one. If you depend on heavy use of the camera, Bluetooth, background location or other deep device features, or you specifically need to be listed in the App Store and Google Play, a native build is the honest answer — and we'll say so. A PWA covers the large middle ground: most of the feel of a native app, reached from a link, kept up to date the moment you deploy rather than waiting on store approval, and a single thing to maintain instead of three.
How we build it
We build PWAs the same way we build the rest of our work — TypeScript and React on the front end, Node.js and a database such as PostgreSQL or MongoDB behind it, hosted on serverless infrastructure that scales with demand. The installability and offline behaviour are added with service workers and a web app manifest: standard parts of the web platform, not a proprietary framework that locks you in. That keeps the app yours and keeps it maintainable after launch. If you'd rather talk through the wider application first, our web application development page covers custom software more generally.
Thinking about an app?
Tell us what it needs to do and who's using it, and we'll tell you honestly whether a progressive web app or a native build fits better.
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