A website that installs itself. No app store required.
Progressive Web App development on top of your existing site — installable to a home screen, functional offline, and fast enough to feel native, without an App Store review process standing between you and your users.
Built for teams that want app-like reach without app-store friction
A PWA is the right call when you want the home-screen presence and offline reliability of an app, but a native iOS and Android build isn't justified by the budget, timeline, or how often the app needs deep device access.
Eight things a real PWA has to get right
Home-screen installability
A web app manifest and install prompt that let the browser offer "Add to Home Screen" without any app-store step.
Offline functionality
A service worker caches what it should and gracefully handles what it can't, so a lost connection degrades instead of breaking the app.
Push notifications
Re-engagement notifications supported on Android and desktop natively, and on iOS 16.4+ once installed to the home screen.
Background sync
Actions taken offline (a form submission, an added item) queue up and sync automatically the moment connectivity returns.
App-like navigation
Standalone display mode strips the browser address bar and chrome, so it looks and feels like an installed app, not a browser tab.
Automatic updates
Every visit checks for a new service worker version in the background — no update button, no app-store release delay.
One codebase, every platform
iOS, Android, and desktop from a single build — no separate Swift/Kotlin codebases to keep in sync.
Instant repeat loads
Cache-first loading means a returning visitor's second visit can be near-instant, since most assets never touch the network again.
Caching strategy, matched to content type
The single most important decision in a PWA build is choosing the right caching strategy per type of content — using one strategy for everything is the most common reason PWAs feel broken or show stale data.
| Cache First | Serve from cache immediately, only hit the network if nothing's cached. Best for fonts, logos, and static assets that rarely change. |
|---|---|
| Network First | Try the network, fall back to cache if offline. Best for content that should always be fresh when possible — a news feed, order status. |
| Stale-While-Revalidate | Serve the cached version instantly, then quietly fetch an update for next time. Best for content where instant load matters more than up-to-the-second freshness. |
| Network Only | Never cache — always require a live connection. Best for payment submission and anything where a stale response would be actively wrong. |
What "works offline" actually looks like
Connection dropped — the last cached version of this page is still fully browsable. A queued action (like a form submission) sits in the background and syncs automatically the moment the connection returns, instead of failing silently.
What actually earns a 100/100 PWA score
- Served over HTTPSService workers refuse to register on an insecure origin.
- Valid web app manifestName, icons (192px and 512px minimum), theme color, and display mode all present.
- Registered service workerControls fetch events and defines what's cached and how.
- Offline fallback pageA clear "you're offline" state instead of the browser's default error.
- Responsive across all viewport sizesNo fixed-width layouts that break the standalone app window.
- Fast enough to pass Core Web VitalsA slow PWA undermines the entire "feels native" premise.
The target for every PWA engagement, verified before handoff.
Three ways to reach mobile users, honestly compared
Responsive website
Works everywhere instantly, but no offline access, no install prompt, no push notifications — a browser tab is still a browser tab.
Progressive Web App
Installable, offline-capable, push-enabled (with iOS caveats), from one codebase — no app-store review or approval delay.
Native app
Full device API access and App Store/Play Store visibility, at the cost of two separate codebases and ongoing store review cycles.
Five stages, from audit to install
Audit the existing site
Current performance, HTTPS status, and which content is static versus live, before any service worker is written.
Design the caching strategy
The right strategy mapped to each content type — this decision shapes everything after it.
Build manifest & service worker
Install prompts, offline fallback, and background sync implemented and tested against real network conditions.
Push notifications (if needed)
Set up with the iOS 16.4+ install-first requirement accounted for explicitly, not discovered after launch.
Audit & launch
A full Lighthouse PWA pass before handoff, plus optional TWA packaging for Play Store listing.
Common questions
How much does PWA development cost?
Converting an existing well-built website into a PWA (manifest, service worker, offline fallback, install prompt) typically falls in the low four figures. Building a new app-like PWA from scratch with push notifications, background sync, and complex offline data handling runs higher, since it's effectively a full application build with PWA capabilities from day one.
What's the real difference between a PWA and a native app?
A PWA is a website that meets a technical bar — HTTPS, a manifest, a service worker — that lets a browser offer to install it, run offline, and behave like an app without an app-store process. A native app is compiled for iOS or Android with deeper hardware access. PWAs have closed most of that gap but still have real limits, particularly around push notifications and background processing on iOS.
Do push notifications work on iPhone with a PWA?
Partially. Since iOS 16.4, Safari supports web push for PWAs, but only after the app has been added to the home screen — it doesn't work for a PWA still running in a regular Safari tab. Worth planning around explicitly if push is core to the product.
Can a PWA still be listed on the Google Play Store?
Yes, through a Trusted Web Activity (TWA) — a thin native wrapper that loads the PWA in a full-screen Chrome instance, allowing Play Store distribution from the same web codebase. Apple's App Store has no equivalent path as of this writing.
Will my existing website work offline if I convert it to a PWA?
Static content caches easily. Content that depends on live data needs a deliberate strategy: show the last cached version with a clear offline indicator, queue actions to sync once reconnected, or degrade gracefully rather than break.
How long does it take to build or convert to a PWA?
Converting an existing site typically takes two to four weeks, mostly spent designing the right caching strategy per content type. A new app-like PWA with offline sync and push notifications is usually scoped alongside a broader MVP timeline of eight to twelve weeks.
Does a PWA hurt SEO?
No — a PWA is still a normal website to search engines, and the requirements for a good PWA (HTTPS, fast load times, mobile responsiveness) overlap heavily with Core Web Vitals and other ranking factors. Search engines crawl the same URLs as any other website.
Explore related work
Tell me what your users need offline.
Send a short brief — your current site or app idea, and what should still work with no connection. You'll get a scoped plan back, not a sales call.
Email your project brief