The story so far:
In the previous article of this series, we reported that applications with NFC and RFID tags will soon be possible as a PWA solution. We've explained what PWAs are and what this means to you as a user.
You can also read the article here:
Part 1: What are Progressive Web Apps
In this article, we'll explain how PWAs will help you benefit from faster update cycles.
Faster update cycles
The web is faster: many people already know that. However, you were probably not aware that this also applies to apps on your smartphone. Here at TSI, we deploy updates to our platform solution TSI - Monitor several times a week, including improvements for TSI Connect in the PWA version, which is part of our platform. This includes not only security updates and bug fixes, but often also functional enhancements and new features.
In comparison, we have updated our TSI Connect Android app on average only every 60 days over the past 3 years. TSI is not alone in this: almost everywhere in the industry update cycles for native apps are much slower.
There are several reasons for this. First of all, it is much more complicated to deploy native apps, which results from the fact that the needed technology requires a lot of extra complexity, which also necessitates more extensive testing before an update.
In addition, updates always have to go through the publishing process of the respective app store, which entails additional delays. And finally, there are further lags before a published update will be offered on your smartphone, then downloaded and installed by you as a user. Sometimes the update is automatic, but depending on your settings, you may also need to take manual actions to install update yourself.
PWA: Updates in seconds
With PWAs, on the other hand, the situation is completely different: we deploy an update and seconds later this is already usable for you. If you use the app, the update will be installed automatically in the background – most of the time you don't even notice it – except maybe you'll discover new features!
Less complexity, less effort
However, we also do not want to hide the fact that PWAs also offer numerous advantages for us, as an app provider. On the one hand, we save on additional efforts to reimplement functions for the native app that we are already offering on our platform solution and thus practically don’t need to “re-develop the wheel.” On the other hand, our platform must also maintain APIs and interfaces that cover the special requirements of native apps, so that they function correctly and securely. All of these are additional investments in technology, security, testing and development, that will no longer be necessary. Ultimately, you will be the prime benefactor if we can use our investments more purposefully and efficiently and deliver more performance at lower prices.
In the third and final part of this series, we will explain how PWAs improve security.
Part 3: Improved security with PWAs
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