The Truth About Website Speed Evolution

A key part of fixing web speed is a programming movement called progressive web apps, or PWAs, that Google helped develop and that it's now promoting at its Google I/O developer conference. With PWAs, using the web can be a lot more like using a native app. Websites load fast, work even when there's no network connection, and notify you when a message arrives.


Progressive Web App (PWA) is a term used to denote web apps that uses the latest web technologies. Progressive web apps are technically regular web pages (or websites) but can appear to the user like traditional applications or (native) mobile applications. This new application type attempts to combine features offered by most modern browsers with the benefits of mobile experience.

Google I/O (simply I/O) is an annual developer conference held by Google in San Francisco, California. I/O showcases technical in-depth sessions focused on building web, mobile, and enterprise applications with Google and open sources such as Android, Chrome and Chrome OS, APIs, Google Web Toolkit, App Engine, and more. I/O was inaugurated in 2008, and is organized by the executive team. "I/O" stands for input/output, as well as the slogan "Innovation in the Open". The event's format is similar to Google Developer Day.

Google is pushing for a faster mobile web experience. Google has tried for years to rehabilitate the web on your phone -- and it now has evidence it says shows the effort is paying off. When you're on your phone, tapping that link in Facebook to a news story or opening the browser to look up movie times can be a wince-inducing process. Even on a fast network with a high-end phone, the web today can be painfully slow and hard to use.

Google's "progressive" approach to web speed evolution

Don't expect to dump your native apps for progressive web apps. But do expect them to spread.

Roy-Chowdhury unveiled new progressive web app plans at Google I/O on Wednesday.
At the show, he's announcing three steps to try to make PWAs work better.

Firstly, Google's Workbox developer tool is designed to help programmers build PWAs, and its Lighthouse service to test those apps is now built directly into Chrome itself. Lastly, Google has finished Polymer 2.0, a collection of code that developers can use for a related technology called web components.

Twitter loves PWAs

Twitter is a big progressive web app fan. If you visit mobile.twitter.com with your phone, you can try it for yourself.
With a compact 400 kilobyte download size, Twitter Lite is just 2.5 percent the size of the Android app, Twitter said. That's an important consideration for people using slow networks or paying by the byte. It's also easier on phone batteries than the native version, according to the company.
It also fires up quickly -- several seconds faster than the native app, once you've created a home screen icon for it. They're easier to install, too, since all you do is open the web site. It installs its full abilities automatically in the background as you use it.
Chrome and Firefox have built in the foundations for progressive web app technology. Microsoft is building it into its Edge browser -- and into Windows 10 and the Windows Store, moves that should help encourage programmers to embrace PWAs. Illustrating the openness advantages of the web, Microsoft will add PWAs to the Windows Store even without developers having to submit them.

Apple lags

Among major browser makers, Apple is a step behind. That means the full PWA experience isn't an option today on iPhones, in particular because Apple requires other browsers like Chrome and Firefox to use Apple's own browser foundation on its iOS-powered devices.
But even on iOS, app developers are taking what steps they can toward progressive web apps. French perfumier Lancome needed a better e-commerce system for mobile devices and pondered writing a native app, but decided on PWA instead since it expected few people to bother with downloading, installing and launching a sales app.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

The result, according to Google, was 53 percent more people using the mobile website on iOS. On all mobile devices, people were 17 percent more likely to take an action like actually buying something, according to Google's stats.
You might not have a particular passion for Lancome's profitability. But everybody likes technology that responds quickly. So chances are good that even if you don't know how somebody's app was built, you'll like PWAs as much as Lancome.

Post Idea initiated from CNet.com

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