IJAIEM

Sri Mounish Seeni

Abstract

As mobile usage dominates digital interactions, the debate between Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and native applications gains renewed importance. This research explores how PWAs compare to native apps in terms of load time, offline access, push notification integration, and hardware capability utilization. Case studies include real-world deployments across e-commerce, social media, and finance. The study evaluates performance using Lighthouse scores, user engagement metrics, and device resource profiling. It also addresses development cost, maintenance complexity, and discoverability via web search versus app stores. PWAs demonstrate significant advantages in terms of agility and accessibility, particularly in low-bandwidth or developing markets. However, limitations remain in areas requiring advanced camera, Bluetooth, or biometric features. The paper offers a balanced perspective on when and why organizations should choose PWAs or native development paths based on business n