Why a PWA Builder Tutorial is Helpful for Getting Started

by Michelle Lawrence | Last Updated: Jun 9, 2020

Like many things in life, you’ve got to practice and research something before getting good. A football player wouldn’t have his first game be the Super Bowl. And you certainly don’t get the first chair by picking up the violin for the first time the day of the concert. You put in the time and research that ultimately leads to your big moment. The same applies to mobile app development. You don’t just take a stab at building a Progressive Web App (PWA)...(although low code platforms might be the exception to this rule). You’ve got to put in the time to be the best. So before you get too far in the weeds in development, let’s discuss why a PWA builder tutorial is helpful for getting started. What is a PWA? Let’s start off small. Do you know what the meaning of a PWA is? For those that said no (or you need a little refresher), they are web experiences built with the highest standards of user experience in mind. They’re basically everything you love about native mobile apps, minus the app store download. Google has an entire checklist of technical requirements for PWAs, but to save you time (you’ve got an app to build!) here are the main four:

Service Worker
Application Shell Architecture
Web App Manifest
HTTPS

Why do you need to know this? These four technical requirements come together to make the magic that is a PWA. When you follow Google’s PWA best practices, you should get a PWA that loads extremely fast even on a slow network. Make sure to include all of the elements in Google’s checklist so you can receive a high score on Google’s Lighthouse Audit (more on this to come in a minute). PWA Tools Without a PWA builder tutorial, you probably don’t know that you can conduct a PWA test online. With Google’s Lighthouse Audit, you can see the areas your PWA excels in, and which ones need a little more work. Below are the five audit references to be aware of:

Performance
PWA Compliance
Accessibility
Best Practice Compliance
SEO

And not to brag, but with every app created with Lumavate, we ensure that you’re always meeting the PWA standards and achieving phenomenal scores on Google Lighthouse Audit. Can We Get a Little Help? Did you know you don’t have to build a PWA from scratch? Many app development companies have a PWA template that you can use to get a jumpstart on your project. That's why so many companies have embraced creating a PWA - Apple has a history of placing restrictions on templated native mobile apps. But maybe you’re up for a challenge and want a quick PWA tutorial from scratch. Keep these design trends in mind, so you’re not designing an app that has a poor UI/UX:

Keep the navigation simple. No one wants to be overstimulated by how many pop-ups appear on the app.
Allow for a custom dashboard; that way, users can toggle on and off certain features.
Use familiar gestures in your app, so users swipe to their hearts’ content.

Learn from the Best We learn from examples (and many Youtube videos). So let’s take a few notes from some of the best, starting with the Pinterest PWA. Users can upload pins, manage their boards, and more with this PWA. And since Pinterest’s PWA was developed, they’ve seen a 370 percent increase in logins and a 292 percent increase in session length. Marketers, wouldn’t you kill to have these results? To get an in-depth look at how Pinterest came to see these results, check out the Mobile Matters episode where we sit down with the former Engineering Manager at Pinterest, Zack Argyle. Why is a PWA Builder Tutorial Important? The low code revolution is here, everyone. Until now, you may have just wanted to hire an app development company to build your PWA for you. But with low code platforms, you can be the app developer. Citizen developers have grown tired of waiting for IT to create business applications for them. Low code platforms enable citizen developers to create apps without coding. So with the power now in your hands, knowing the ins-and-outs of PWAs will help make you the best PWA builder ever. Now that we’ve reached the end of this simple PWA tutorial, are you hungry for more PWA-related content? Download The State of Progressive Web Apps Q1: 2020 infographic to catch up on what’s happening with PWAs this year.

Why a PWA Builder Tutorial is Helpful for Getting Started

See Lumavate in Action

Meet with one of our experts to see how easy it is to centralize your product data, manage digital assets, and create digital product experiences. Trust us…you’re going to be wowed.