The past five years has been filled with news that progressive web apps (PWAs) are either the future of the Internet, or they’re as dead as a doornail. The truth is somewhat less sensational than that, as it turns out.

PWAs have an excellent niche that is slowly growing. Emergen Research puts their market cap at over $10 billion by 2027. Not bad. And by tracking how often progressive web app ‘service workers’ are being invoked in a popular browser like Chrome, we get some idea of the percentage of sites that are making use of PWA tech, in whole or in part.

For anyone who doesn’t speak ‘graph’, that represents around 19% of Chrome page loads invoking a service worker. Knowing that PWAs really are a growing market, we can now examine what makes them interesting, and how they’re implemented.

What Is a Progressive Web App?

Simply put, a progressive web app has the simplicity of an app, without the need for an app store download. Instead it works within an existing web browser. It doesn’t require separate bundling or distribution, it responds rapidly, and the same version of the app’s code will work across multiple operating systems and devices.

Some seasoned programmers might shudder, thinking about the old days of cross platform code; also known as Java. But PWAs are fairly spry, making use of service workers and web app manifests to run standard, browser friendly code.

The advantages are clear: No need to maintain a bunch of different code bases for iOS, Android, and Windows. No need to mess with app stores unless that’s desirable. And a clean, responsive interface that is largely the same between all supporting web browsers.

Progressive Web Apps – What Is Their Business Impact?

Because PWAs are more rapidly developed, and maintaining their code base is so much simpler than traditional cross platform apps, there are a lot of business models that they fit into.

One popular role of progressive web apps is ‘made to order’ productivity applications, particularly for small and medium sized businesses. If, for example, a business needed a cut-down version of a shared accounting and inventory platform, that could be quite easily done. Within a year, they’re likely to save money when compared to the big subscription services.

Another is self contained helper apps that use an affiliate model. For example, a fast, simple mortgage calculator could then ask the user if they want to get comparative quotes, and the owner would take a small percentage of every referred sale. The same would be true for insurance calculators. And a variation on the theme might be something that suggests fishing sites in the user’s area, and makes their money off of the Amazon affiliate program (or a chain of pro shops, etc.) by selling the correct gear and lures for the typical game fish in the area.

The common theme here is: Fast simplicity that works on any device.

Whether the business is making its money off of custom design fees, code tailoring and maintenance, or offering a free service with an affiliate or sales backend, they’re delivering what the user wants: Money and time savings as the progressive web app delivers the level of information management that they require.

The Future of Progressive Web Apps

The ability to offer ‘lite’ versions of traditionally complex web subscription services means that there are a lot of verticals to explore. Starbucks, Uber, and Spotify might have their particular PWA niches sewn up, but there is a lot of room in other industries. Fashion, travel, retail, sports, gambling, productivity, and even games (such as the addictive ‘2048’ PWA) have plenty of room for PWA innovation.

The simplicity of a browser interface means that no matter how devices evolve in the near future, there’s likely to be a role for progressive web apps. There are already experiments with incorporating real-world web browser displays in the wildly popular VR chat rooms. Virtual Market 4 allowed VR users to touch a product on the web, and bring up a 3D image of it in their environment. That product, such as a couch, could then be used or modeled by the avatars in the simulation. When they were done with it, a simple click on the virtual browser made the product vanish.

But PWA applications for future user interfaces don’t even need to be that complex. Augmented Reality (AR) already allows for enhanced browser-based interfaces that work with real or virtual touch-screen controls. Progressive web apps will seamlessly operate in such an environment.

The growth numbers over the last five years are certainly no fluke. Expect progressive web apps to make up a significant chunk of commercial web space for many years to come.

With her hometown in Jakarta and having moved regularly as a child, Mitrais’ Corporate Legal Counsel Endah Puspito Wardhani (known as Pipit) is no stranger to change.
Her ability to quickly adjust and adapt to change has given her the skills required to be a core member of the Mitrais legal team.

“Having to move around and live in different places at such a young age has had its benefits and challenges,” says Pipit. “My sisters and I had to constantly catch up with school and pick up new ways, new languages, make new friends fairly quickly every time we moved to a new place. This experience has trained us for life in so many ways including to be adaptable, fast-learners and open-minded to new things as well as to respect other cultures and beliefs no matter how different they may be to ours.”

Pipit has spent time living in both Australia and a number of locations across Indonesia, giving her a unique perspective that is incredibly useful in a strong, multicultural organisation like Mitrais. After completing high school, Pipit went on to study accounting and received her diploma. It wasn’t until she was involved in a legislative drafting project that her undiscovered talent for law and legal counsel was discovered, and she was promptly granted a scholarship to study law at Udayana University in Bali.

Pipit is known for being incredibly fair in all parts of her work at Mitrais. A friendly and charming member of our team, she does not shy away from offering fair and representative advice on legal or technical matters to her colleagues.

While Pipit doesn’t have a background in IT, it is her passion for learning and her interest in the world of IT business that has led her to succeed in her role with Mitrais. “I have been intrigued to learn and to understand about the world of IT business, specifically the legal aspects as they relate to my area”.

This willingness to learn and change is illustrated in Pipits love of traditional food, specifically street food. While her favourite cuisine may (of course) be Indonesian food, she loves eating authentic, traditional food from various places – the spicier the better!

Being Legal Counsel for any company comes with difficult conversations and situations, but Pipit has carved a name for herself as being fair and impartial in all matters between Mitrais and our clients. She’s always been a perceptive person, which gives her strong negotiation skills to seek a win-win solution for all parties. This quality has stood the company in great stead during contract negotiations with clients. Her specialised skills allow Mitrais to ensure that we avoid any possible legal disputes with clients by setting clear guidelines early, and making sure that those are communicated clearly at all times.

Of Mitrais, Pipit shares, “I am fortunate to have great mentors”. She believes that the culture found at Mitrais creates a strong and solid team and encourages an environment that keeps the team motivated and wanting to give their best.

While there are many words of wisdom that may be inspiring, one of Pipits favourites came from her father, who instilled this value in her from a young age. “Be honest and do what is right”. What sounds like a simple basic principle requires courage, knowledge, persistence and perceptiveness to apply in everyday life. What a wonderful guiding principle to hold, no matter what the world may throw at you.

Thanks Pipit! Mitrais is proud to have you as part of our team and a member of our family.