Every company wants a mobile application. Nobody wants to pay for developing native apps for both iOS and Android, go through app store review, and deal with update distribution. Progressive Web Apps promise a web application with a native experience. Does it work in enterprise? We tested it.
What is PWA and Why We Care¶
A Progressive Web App is a web application that meets three criteria: reliable (works offline), fast (instant response thanks to cache), and engaging (push notifications, home screen installation). Technically: Service Worker + Web App Manifest + HTTPS.
For enterprise, this means: one codebase for desktop and mobile, no dependency on app stores, instant update distribution, lower development costs. Twitter Lite, Starbucks, Pinterest — major players have already switched. And the numbers speak: Twitter recorded a 65% increase in pages per session and 75% increase in tweets.
Service Worker — The Heart of PWA¶
Service Worker is JavaScript that runs in the background, independently of the page. It intercepts network requests and decides what to serve from cache and what to download from the server. Key for enterprise: the application works even without internet.
Caching strategy depends on the use case. Cache First for static assets (UI, icons, fonts). Network First for data from API — tries network first, serves cache on failure. Stale While Revalidate for data where slight staleness doesn’t matter — instant response from cache, background update.
Our Pilot: Attendance System¶
A company with 500 field employees (technicians, installers). They need to log arrival/departure from mobile devices. Field workers often without signal. Native app = 2 platforms × development × testing × app store distribution.
PWA solution: Angular 6 application with Service Worker. Offline form stores records in IndexedDB. When connectivity is restored, Background Sync sends data to server. Push notifications remind about forgotten departure.
- Development: 3 months (vs. estimated 5 months for 2 native apps)
- Distribution: link in email, “Add to Home Screen” prompt
- Updates: deploy to server, Service Worker automatically updates
- Offline reliability: 99.8% successful synchronization
Enterprise Advantages¶
No app store. Internal corporate applications don’t need to be published to Google Play or App Store. Link on intranet, QR code on bulletin board. IT department doesn’t deal with MDM for simple utility applications.
Instant updates. New version is a matter of deploying to web server. No waiting for review, no “users have old version.” Service Worker detects changes and updates cache in the background.
Lower TCO. One team, one codebase, one deploy process. Angular/React developer can handle PWA — you don’t need Swift and Kotlin specialists. For internal tools (attendance, ticketing, inventory), ROI is clear.
Limitations and Reality¶
iOS support. Safari added Service Worker support in March 2018 (iOS 11.3). But with limitations: no Background Sync, no push notifications, 50MB storage limit, automatic cache deletion after 2 weeks of inactivity. For iOS-heavy companies, this is a problem.
Hardware access. Bluetooth, NFC, camera — access is limited compared to native apps. Web Bluetooth exists, but only in Chrome. If the application needs to scan barcodes via camera — it works. If it needs to communicate with BLE sensors — problem.
Performance. For data-intensive applications (large tables, complex visualizations), JavaScript is still slower than native code. For form-based applications (most enterprise use cases), the difference isn’t noticeable.
When PWA, When Native¶
PWA: internal tools, forms, dashboards, simple CRUD applications, information systems where offline mode = read-only or simple form submit. Budget-conscious projects with short time-to-market.
Native: customer applications with high UX requirements, need for hardware APIs (Bluetooth, NFC, ARKit), performance-intensive applications (games, 3D), applications dependent on push notifications on iOS.
PWA in Enterprise Makes Sense — For the Right Use Case¶
Progressive Web Apps are not a replacement for native applications. They are an alternative for 70% of enterprise mobile needs — internal tools where development speed and easy distribution outweigh limited hardware access. One codebase, no app store, instant updates. For an attendance system or field service app, it’s a no-brainer.
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