Why Google Advocates Progressive Web Apps?

By 2025, Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) have become a mainstream way to deliver mobile experiences. These apps combine web and mobile features to give users an app-like experience. As a Cloudinary blog notes, PWAs are “lightweight versions of native apps” that offer an “instantly installable” experience. They load quickly, work offline, and require no app store download. This explains why Progressive Web Apps often beat native apps in speed, reach and cost. Industry data bear this out: for example, analysts report that the global PWA market grew to $1.46 billion in 2023 and is set to hit $9.4 billion by 2030 (a 31% CAGR). The growth is driven by booming smartphone and internet use. In fact, GSMA found 6.5 billion smartphone connections (83% of people) in 2022 With most internet traffic now mobile, businesses need fast, reliable apps. PWAs meet that need with near-native performance and broad compatibility.

Smartphone use is nearly universal, so one codebase that runs everywhere is a huge win. For example, service providers like Orange Polska rebuilt their mobile site as a PWA and saw mobile page load times drop 30% and conversions jump 52%. This real-world result shows the PWA edge: faster loading speeds and higher conversion without building separate native apps. PWAs deliver this by caching content and running on any device. As Google’s case studies show, PWAs rival native app speed and reliability; Twitter’s PWA (Twitter Lite) delivered 65% more pages per session and 75% more Tweets than the old native approach. PWAs also use minimal storage: Twitter Lite needs under 5% of the space of the standard Android app. All these gains illustrate why Progressive Web Apps lead in user engagement and efficiency.

A Brief History of Progressive Web Apps

What is a progressive web app? Well, it was Steve Jobs who first mentioned the possibility of Progressive Web Apps, during the iPhone introduction in 2007:

“You can write amazing Web 2.0 and Ajax apps that look exactly and behave exactly like apps on the iPhone. And these apps can integrate perfectly with iPhone services. And guess what? There’s no SDK that you need! You’ve got everything you need if you know how to write apps using the most modern web standards to write amazing apps for the iPhone today.” 

In the beginning, he did not intend to let third-party developers build native apps for iOS. Instead, he directed them to make web apps for Safari web browsers.

Recommended reading: 6 Best Progressive Web Apps Examples (PWAs) over the Past Decade

Then why didn’t Apple initiate this?

Well, developers didn’t like this idea, and Apple also reconsidered it. Eventually, in February 2008, Apple introduced the iOS SDK. It allows developers to get access to various functions and services of iOS devices, such as hardware and software attributes. And thus, it facilitates the development of native apps on iOS. And pretty soon after, in July 2008, they presented App Stores. This turned out to be a brilliant decision; during the past ten years, Apple has earned a lot of money with that.

Since the release of the App Store, we have witnessed the rise of native apps built on iOS and Android. They dominated the mobile network and brought Google and Apple to the forefront. In the meantime, the website owners turn to Responsive Web Design as a stopgap to get their product adaptive to various devices and screen sizes. 

Mobile apps and websites have evolved along two different paths; The attempts to bridge the gap between them fell into the periphery.

But PWAs had to wait for their time not only because the pioneers in the industry set it aside, but also because the web technologies were not enough at the time. 

In 2015, Alex Russell dug it up and gave it a name in his critical article Progressive Web Apps: Escaping Tabs Without Losing Our Soul. He discussed a possible new class of web pages that could progressively grow to match up to native apps, and he coined the term Progressive Web Apps.

Recommended reading: Progressive Web App Tutorial for Beginners in 2022

So, Technically, What Are Progressive Web Apps?

There is this interesting read from Jeremy Keith in which he emphasizes the need of defining who our listeners are when we try to explain the concept of Progressive Web Apps. If we are to talk to business people, it’s better just to point out the profits that they may gain with PWAs instead of choosing the traditional native apps. However, to those who really need to get a technical outlook of this term, we should put it straightforwardly that a Progressive Web App is a website served over HTTPS with a service worker and manifest file.

First, it’s the web.

So Progressive Web Apps has the “web” in its name basically because it consists of HTTPS, with URLs and links as the core organizing system. Thanks to this, it is accessible to both humans and search engines.

But it could work like an app.

Also, the “app” in its name indicates that this website “escapes the tabs” and works similarly to a native app. You may have a clearer picture of it by looking at the following example:

The browser no longer shows up. With the web app manifest file, PWAs could also be on your home screen. And therefore, they give us an immersive experience as if we are using a native app. With UI Richness and system capabilities, PWAs could work similarly to a native app. It could run in the background, access system APIS, and could also be packaged and distributed through stores. 

One noteworthy example is Twitter Lite. In August 2017, Twitter launched this progressive web app to serve users in environments with unreliable connectivity. Although Twitter Lite offers users almost all features similar to that of its native counterpart, varying from the regular feed, and notifications list to tabs for search and direct messaging, it requires less storage space. 

And one of the strengths of PWAs that make them different from traditional web apps is that they could work offline, or we can call them connectivity independence. Earlier today, I by chance visited issuu.com via Google Chrome on my smartphone. In case you didn’t know, Issuu is an electronic publishing platform that enables you to share your publication digitally. Even though they did it quite well in making the website responsive, there is still this panel telling me to download the Issuu app. For one thing, the website doesn’t support offline reading. 

This is probably one of the main reasons why Issuu launched its own native apps on iOS and Android. And we can see that this is also a common difference between websites and native apps: When there’s no Internet connection, you cannot get access to the data from the websites and carry out the tasks as usual. But with native apps, you can. PWAs are designed and developed to fill this gap.

Above all, it’s progressive, not hybrid

However, there is one thing that should not be mistaken about PWAs: They are not a hybrid of webs and apps. They are actually webs that are equipped with the latest web technologies so that they could function like apps. This is probably why we have the term “progressive” in the name of PWAs.

There are many more attributes of PWAs that Frances Berriman and Alex Russell discuss which also suggests some progressive web app frameworks that you could utilize.

Why Do Google and Microsoft like PWAs That Much?

Now, get back to the first question, what is it about PWAs that makes them attract the attention of Google and Microsoft?

Google has always led the way with PWA. In 2016, Google adapted PWA as the new development standard. And also it was Google that partnered with Twitter in developing Twitter Lite.

The reason why Google supports PWAs is that Google’s business model is actually on the web. If every company creates its own native apps and pulls data directly from the site without going through the web, that actually does more harm than good to Google. With PWAs, apps don’t count against web traffic. PWAs are still indexed by search engines’ bots. And website content can be easily found via organic search. Google then can capitalize on PWAs by providing users with analytics, ad stuff, and SEO as well. Promoting PWAs, Google wants people to get back to websites instead of native apps.

Who also profits from this, besides Google?

But Google is not the only player that gains an advantage from this. We all know that the budget for developing and maintaining native apps could reach $50,000 per year, which is not affordable to many small and medium businesses. And with PWAs, these businesses can have an app-like tool with less investment. Also, the traffic they attain from SEM could be funneled to PWAs.

So when more and more businesses turn to PWAs, this is where Microsoft steps in. Needless to say, Microsoft has an app gap problem. And by supporting PWAs, Microsoft desires to bring people back to their Microsoft Store. 

We are not sure if Apple and Google will list PWAs in their stores, but Microsoft is definitely going to. They will wrap the PWAs and put them into their platform. Now when Windows users want to look up something helpful, they can come to Microsoft Store just like App Store or Google Play. And thanks to discoverability, Microsoft can launch other discoverability-related features such as the live tiles, Cortana, in-app purchases, rating and reviews, deeper analytics, and so forth. 

Business owners can also take advantage of this, and it’s free to implement without permission or payment because what Microsoft does is simply putting the websites in their store. So, it’s a win-win situation. 

Are Progressive Web Apps Really the Future of Web Apps?

There have been several big brand names out there that are PWAs. Starbucks, Tinder, Instagram, Uber, Lyft, Pinterest, and even Google Maps are possibly the best progressive web apps, to name just a few. And you can discover many more progressive web app examples.

• Twitter Lite: After rebuilding Twitter as a PWA (Twitter Lite), the company saw page loads and feature use skyrocket. Sessions jumped 65% and Tweets sent rose 75%. The PWA also slashed bounce rates by 20%. Notably, Twitter Lite uses only ~3% of the space of the native Android app, making it fast to load and light on data.
• Tinder: The Tinder web app was converted into a PWA. As a result, loading time was cut in half and the app size fell from about 30 MB to just 2.8 MB. Users saw the app respond much faster, which led to more swipes, messages, and overall engagement. Tinder’s success shows a PWA can rival – and even improve on – the native experience.
• Pinterest: The visual discovery platform moved to a PWA and saw dramatic gains. After launch, Pinterest reported users spent 40% more time on the site and core engagement (pins, saves) jumped by 44%. Users could browse and pin smoothly even on slow connections, so they stayed longer.
• Alibaba: The world’s largest B2B marketplace built a PWA and saw a 4× increase in user interactions and a 76% rise in mobile conversions. Alibaba’s PWA loads quickly and guides users through a seamless checkout. These gains directly show why Progressive Web Apps can beat legacy mobile sites or apps – they boost sales and user activity.
• Orange Polska: As mentioned above, the telecom firm’s new PWA loads 30% faster and achieved a 52% improvement in mobile conversion rate. The smooth PWA experience kept users engaged and drove more completed purchases.

Each of these cases proves PWAs outperform native or traditional mobile sites for engagement and conversion. By cutting load times and simplifying installation, they win user trust and loyalty.

Key Benefits of PWAs Over Native Apps

For example, AppInstitute reports PWA implementations see 52% higher conversions and 15× faster loads. Other studies found 137% more engagement and 134% more pageviews. These results highlight why Progressive Web Apps often outperform native apps in metrics that matter (speed, engagement, and cost).

One App for All Devices

A single PWA can run on iOS, Android, Windows, and more. Companies build one codebase instead of separate native apps. Updates are instant (no app store wait) and users can “install” the PWA from their browser. As progressier.com notes, PWAs are “the only format that allows one single app to be installed on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Chrome OS”. This cuts development time and cost drastically.

Offline Access & Instant Loads

Service workers let PWAs cache content, so apps load in a snap and even run without a connection. Users get near-instant loading and full app features offline. For example, the PWA version of Twitter (Twitter Lite) kept the timeline loading fast on slow networks, cutting bounce rates 20% while delivering fresh content. Research shows PWAs can be far smaller and faster: Tinder rebuilt its web app and slashed load time in half, shrinking the app from ~30 MB to just 2.8 MB.

Boosted User Engagement

PWAs drive higher engagement and conversions. Users tend to spend more time and view more pages. Google data show PWA sites can see 137% more engagement and 80% more mobile sessions on average. One infographic reports PWAs increase conversions by ~52% and reduce bounce rates by ~43%. Orange’s telco PWA cut bounce rates and saw a 52% rise in checkout conversions on mobile. These gains come from fast load times and reliable UX. In short, customers buy and interact more when the experience is smooth.

Lower Development & Maintenance Cost

Building native apps for iOS and Android requires separate teams and codebases. PWAs let you target all devices with one project. That means big cost savings. Reports note that PWA development is much cheaper because developers reuse code for web and mobile. You also avoid app store fees. In practice, companies deploying PWAs reach users faster and with less budget than building and maintaining multiple native apps.

SEO & Discoverability

Unlike native apps, PWAs are websites, so search engines can index them. This drives organic traffic. PWAs show up in Google search just like web pages. In contrast, a native app buried in an app store is invisible to search bots. Owning a PWA means every page is linkable and shareable. This is a massive advantage for marketing and discoverability.

Designveloper’s PWA Expertise

Designveloper is the leading software development company in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, founded in early 2013. We build custom web and mobile solutions (including PWAs) for clients worldwide. Our talented team uses modern frameworks (React, Angular, Node.js, Go, etc.) to create high-performance web apps. In fact, industry evaluators (TopDevelopers and Clutch) rank us among the top 30 web development firms in the world. This reflects our track record in delivering complex projects at scale.

We have delivered numerous PWAs that drive real results. For example, we built Lumin – a cloud platform for viewing, editing and signing PDFs – fully as a web app. We also developed Bonux, a secure crypto wallet for managing digital assets. In each case, our PWA implementations load quickly, work offline, and feel like native apps to users. We focus on business impact: as our site notes, partnering with us helps clients “grow your user base faster” and “increase conversion”. By choosing us, customers get a responsive PWA that reaches more users and boosts engagement.

At Designveloper, we care about quality and affordability. Our systematic approach ensures we deliver robust PWAs on time and on budget. We have built a reputation as a trusted partner in sectors like fintech, e-commerce, healthcare and more. Across all our projects, we leverage PWA strengths – instant updates, offline support, and SEO – to give our clients a competitive edge.

Progressive Web Apps are a key part of our service offering. We help businesses move beyond native constraints by using PWAs to capture mobile audiences faster and at lower cost. With more than a decade of experience (founded 2013) and a portfolio of successful web app projects, we are ready to guide your PWA initiative from strategy to launch.

Conclusion

In summary, the evidence is clear: PWAs often outperform native apps in 2025 because they merge app-like speed and engagement with web scalability. They load instantly, run offline, and cost less to build. This is why companies are adopting PWAs at scale. We at Designveloper specialize in creating these next-generation applications. Get in touch to see how a Progressive Web App can help your business grow and succeed.