Build a PWA with React Native: Key Steps

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Guidance on how to develop a Progressive
Web App using React Native!
A Progressive Web Application (PWA) is a disruptive innovation that
integrates the functionality of a native mobile app and the usability of a
responsive website. Several business brands have harnessed the goodies
of progressive web apps to reach unprecedented heights of success.
Take a look at the success stories of the following brands on account of
PWA adoption, as published by the online research portal “Cloud
Four”.

• ‘Flipkart’ experienced a 40% increase in the re-engagement
rate.
• ‘5miles’ was able to reduce the bounce rate by 50% and boost
the conversion rate by 30%.
• With their new PWA, ‘Tinder’s’ load times decreased from
11.91 sec to 4.69 sec and also, the engagement rate shot up.
Besides, the PWA is 90% smaller as compared to their native
Android app.
• Twitter’ witnessed a 65% spike in the pages per session, a 75%
increase in Tweets, and a 20% decrease in the bounce rate.
• ‘Forbes’ experienced a 43% increase in the sessions per user, a
20% boost in the ad viewability, and a 100% spike in the
engagement rate.
Thus, it is evident that progressive web app development is successfully
fulfilling the demanding user expectations and challenging business
requirements of modern times.
So, if you too are one of those planning to build a PWA, the obvious
question that will crop up in your mind is, “Which framework is best
suited for PWA development?” Many, businesses and corporates prefer

React Native for end-to-end PWA development and hire efficient React
Native developers for the same.
This blog guides you through crafting a PWA using the React Native
Framework. But before we commence, let me enlighten you on some
crucial facts about PWAs and the reasons to choose React Native
Development.
Progressive Web App (PWA): Unique Strengths
The usual websites can be conveniently accessed from any device or
browser, but they fail to leverage the platform-specific hardware that
ensures high performance. Native apps, on the other hand, can
completely utilize the platform-specific hardware and software
capacities to optimize performance but are available only for the
particular platform for which they are designed. But, progressive web
applications combine the best of both worlds and are known for
delivering a native app-like experience in the browser. The distinct
capabilities of this futuristic software solution are as follows.
• Delivers a native-like experience.
• Loads instantly and promptly respond to user inputs.
• Integrates push notifications for maximizing user engagement.

• Offers a highly responsive UI and consistent UX across mobile
phones, tablets, and PCs.
• Integrates with users’ devices and utilizes the device
capabilities to the fullest for delivering improved performance.
• Employs cached data from earlier interactions to provide
offline access to content and certain features.
• Are easily discoverable and can be installed by simply clicking a
pop-up without having to visit the app store.
• Possesses cross-platform compatibility and involves a cost-
efficient developmental cycle.
• Is reliable and secure.
• Takes up less storage memory.
Why choose React Native Development for PWA
Creation?
React Native is considered to be an apt progressive web app
development framework as it proves immensely advantageous for
developers. Let’s peek into the reasons:

• It is a JavaScript library containing multiple in-built packages
and ready-to-use plugins.
• The ‘create-react-app’package helps in configuring the app with
ready-to-use features. This speeds up development and makes
it possible to create a PWA in real-time.
• The SW-Precache-Webpack-plugin enables the creation of
highly functional PWAs decked up with rich features. Besides,
the fact that this plugin is integrated with create-react-app,
eases out things further.
Thus, if a PWA is built using React Native, the end-product becomes
more progressive with lesser efforts.
Key Steps on Creating a PWA with React Native
Check out the key requirements for PWA creation.

Adoption of a Secure Network Connection
Adopting a secure network connection for PWA creation ensures
security and helps you to gain users’ trust. Sometime back, the Google
team had declared HTTP web pages as not safe and secure and had
advised going for an HTTPS connections that is more secure. So, it is
essential that mobile app companies opt for HTTPS connection while
developing PWA. For using HTTPS, one can employ service workers,
thus, activating home screen installations.
Implementing the “Add to Home Screen” Option

After you serve the web on HTTPS, do not forget to implement the “Add
to Home Screen” option for your users. This move is sure to improve
the user experience and as such, expedite the conversion rate for your
brand. To execute this task you need to add a Web App Manifest or
manifest.json file to the PWA.
Employing Web App Manifest
Adding the manifest.json file to the app’s root directory allows the users
to install the app on their smartphones effortlessly. It should contain
details such as name, icons, description as well as a splash screen for
the application. The manifest.json file can either be written by your
React Native Developers or created employing a tool. This file consists
of metadata in a public folder that controls the app’s visual appearance
on the home screen of users.
So, given below are key terms used while coding manifest.json. (Let’s
assume that your app’s name is Dizon)
• Short_name: The name of the app (Dizon) is displayed when
you add it to the users’ home screen.

• Name: Browser uses this name when users add the application
to their home screen. It is displayed as “Add Dizon to Home
Screen.”
• Icons: The icon of your app is visible on the users’ home
screens.
• Start_url: It is the URL that specifies the starting point of the
PWA.
• Theme_color: It regulates the toolbar color of the users’
browsers.
• Background color: When the app is launched, the background
color of the splash screen can be changed.
• Display: This feature enables one to tweak the browser view
and you may run the app on a separate window or a full screen.
Implementing Custom Splash Screen
Whenever users launch a PWA on their Android devices, a white screen
is displayed till the app is ready for use. This white blank screen is
visible for a longer time, hence implementing a custom splash screen is
important to get a better user experience. A Custom splash

screen enables you to employ an icon displaying your brand and a
custom background for the PWA, imparting a native-like look and feel.
Usage of Pusher to add Real-time Functionalities
A React Native App Development Company should employ Pusher to
add Real-time functionalities in their PWA. This is so
because Pusher simplifies the task of binding the UI interactions to the
events which are triggered by the server or the client. The setup process
involves:
• Logging in to the dashboard and building a new app
• Copying the app_id, secret, key, cluster and then store these for
future usage.
• Setting up a server in node.js which will assist in triggering
events using Pusher.
• Creating a file called ‘server.js’ in the project’s root directory
with the required content. Further details can be viewed in
this linked content by Pusher
Integrating a Service Worker

A PWA development company needs to integrate a service worker — a
script running in the background that does not interact with the actual
app. Its function is to regulate installations, push notifications, caching,
etc. Service Workers play a vital role by intercepting the network
requests in the background and caching information to facilitate offline
usage.
Auditing the Code with Lighthouse
Auditing the code with Google’s automated open-source tool called
Lighthouse will help in monitoring the performance of a web
application. This tool runs multiple tests for examining the
performance, accessibility, etc. of a web app and generates a report for
the same. These reports prove useful in fixing the weak aspects of the
PWA like performance, best practices, accessibility, etc. Additionally,
the Lighthouse plugin guides on resolving the issues and thus,
improving performance.
Final Verdict:
React Progressive Web Apps help businesses across diverse domains
establish their digital footprints successfully. In today’s smartphone-
dominated world, PWAs have become an absolute necessity for
businesses to gain loyal and happy customers. Therefore, if you are

planning to develop a web app or a website, it is advisable to deploy the
same as a PWA as it adds convenience to the users and hence improves
the user engagement and experience. For any technical assistance on
PWA development reach out to Biz4Solutions, a distinguished React
Native app development company offering incredible web/mobile app
development services for clients across the globe.
I hope this blog was beneficial.
Do share your opinions and experiences on PWAs in the comments
section.
To know more about our other core technologies, refer to
links below:
Ionic App Development
.Net App Development
Angular App Development

Build a PWA with React Native: Key Steps

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