Difference between a progressive web app and a hybrid mobile app

Question

Can someone tell me the differences between a Hybrid Mobile App and a Progressive Web App and their advantages?

Answer 1

Progressive Web Apps

This relatively new technology developed by Google enables mobile devices to add a website or web application to a smartphone's home screen and be able to interact with it offline.

Pros

• Allows for push notifications
• Apps can work in an offline mode
• The underlying sites usually get better ranking on search engines

Cons

• This technology is just a browser wrapper—not a fully-functional app, so technically it's still a website
• Users won't get a native app experience (i.e. interactions, animations, performance) as the UI is just a fullscreen browser window without a URL bar that can work offline.
• Poor compatibility (still not available for iPhones and iPads)

Hybrid Mobile Apps

Here can be two options:

Frameworks as Apache Cordova, Ionic and PhoneGap

Pros

• High development speed
• Coded in web development technologies (HTML, CSS, Javascript) that yield cross-compatible iOS, Android, and web software (just one web developer needed)
• Frameworks are availalbe that emulate native app UI elements (i.e. buttons, menus, etc.)
• UX is very close to a native experience using UI elements that mimic native app behavior
• Access to the smartphone’s hardware API, facilitating device functionality (e.g. camera, push notifications, geolocation, and others)

Cons

• UX is not as good as it is on native apps (300ms click delays, phantom clicks while scrolling, etc.)
• The more complex the application, the slower it works due to the various wrappers and libraries employed
• Doesn't work offline
• Animations are difficult to implement in the UI

or React Native.

Pros

• High development speed for the React-based apps
• Web application built with React.js can be easily converted to a React Native mobile app, and some source code can be reused
• Native user experience
• Application looks and feels exactly like a native mobile app for a specific platform
• Reduces development costs
• Experts in React Native can usually build both Android and iOS apps

Cons

• Relatively new technology (limited open-source solutions)
• Limited with regard to visual design
• Not ideal for complex projects like mobile games or apps that require a high load (significant computations)

Recently we've wrote an article on this topic: From Website to Mobile App – Your Four Best Options

I'm sure you'll be interested.