Moving from a native mobile app to a Progressive Web App (PWA)
What is a PWA? PWA runs in a mobile browser and offers feature parity with native apps by taking advantage of cutting edge HTML 5 and Javascript libraries. Think of it as a super-powered mobile site, made possible by recent advancements in mobile web tech. PWA’s have begun to displace native apps at many tech-forward companies for several key reasons:
PWAs are instantly accessible Unlike native apps
PWA’s don’t need to be downloaded and installed. They’re instantly accessible from any device. As such, they suffer less fallout and see better adoption.
There are a lot of steps involved in installing an app: pressing install, authenticating, accepting permission checks, waiting for the download and finally opening the app once it’s installed.
Conversion decreases by about 20% for each step. This means that applications that need to be installed through an app store can commonly see conversions of around 40% of interested users.
Fallout
Why not offer both a native app and a PWA?
Native apps are tedious and slow. Convincing people to install them is an expensive use of goodwill that is better spent directly promoting your referral program. Furthermore, the native app users experience greater fallout and poor engagement. We don’t want anyone to go that route. Our clients have seen greater success by keeping their referral process simple and we’ve made a strategic decision not to offer our native app anymore.
Other HR Tech
companies are moving
to PWAs
Taleo
No longer offers a native mobile app (uses PWA exclusively now)
IBM Kenexa
No longer offers a native mobile app (uses PWA exclusively now)
iCIMS
Offers a native app for admins, but not employees. Native app has a 2.4 star rating with 27 reviews (vast majority of users use their PWA)
Jobvite
Offers a native app for admins, but not employees. Native app has a 2.8 star rating with 24 reviews (vast majority of users use their PWA)
Workable
Offers a native app for admins, but not employees. Native app has a 3.1 star rating with 17 reviews (vast majority of users use their PWA)
PWAs are more engaging
PWAs offer superior speed and simplicity, often resulting in greater engagement than native apps.
