PWA Development Services, With the iOS Limits Stated Before You Commit

Progressive web apps still install to the iPhone home screen and still send push notifications. Our PWA development services open with the short, specific list of what they cannot do, handed to you during the decision rather than in month three.

Check Whether a PWA Fits

Clutch 5.0GoodFirms 5.0Google 4.3Upwork 4.8

Where PWA Development Starts, and Whether It Should At All

Every engagement here opens on the same question: does this product need anything from the list a progressive web app cannot do? If it does, native is the answer and we tell you before a quote arrives rather than after.

The honest summary is that these got better and then the story stopped being told. Push notifications arrived on iOS in 2023. Home screen installation works. Apple threatened to remove standalone web apps in Europe and reversed that decision in March 2024.

What has not changed is the capability list. No background sync, no Bluetooth or NFC, a storage ceiling, and a cache iOS clears after a week without a visit. None of that matters for a great many products, and all of it is fatal for a few. Which of those you are is what our first conversation establishes.

What Aipxperts Brings to a Progressive Web App Build

A progressive web app has to keep working as Apple and Google change what the platform allows, which takes a bench rather than one developer. This is the scale Aipxperts brings to its PWA development services.

100+

Software Engineers

500+

Solutions Delivered

30+

Industries Served

95%

Client Retention

120+

Clients Worldwide

3

Unicorn Products

PWA Development Services, From Feasibility to Launch

Each of these PWA development services is a standalone engagement, and one of them exists because a fair share of these enquiries should end with a native recommendation or with no app at all. Finding that out costs a conversation rather than a build.

PWA Feasibility Assessment

Before anybody has committed to a platform, our engineers check your feature list against what a progressive web app genuinely cannot do and write the verdict down either way. You give up nothing at this stage: it is the piece that tells you what you would be giving up, before you have spent anything.

Progressive Web App Development From Scratch

When the product is new and reach matters more than device access, we build it as a web app with the service worker, offline handling and install support designed in from the first sprint. What you trade away is background sync, Bluetooth, NFC and sensor access, and that list goes into the scope rather than arriving afterwards.

Converting an Existing Web App to a PWA

When you already have a web product and want it installable, our engineers add the service worker, manifest, offline behaviour and push to what you have, without a rewrite. You give up less than most teams expect, though the iOS storage ceiling is the constraint worth checking first.

Offline-First Engineering

When your users work where connectivity is unreliable, we build local storage, sync on reconnect and conflict handling deliberately, inside the platform’s real limits. True background sync is not available on iOS, so data syncs when the app is open and we design the product around that rather than around a promise.

Push Notifications and Re-Engagement

Once you need to bring users back, our engineers implement web push on both platforms and handle the iOS requirement that the app be installed to the home screen inside the onboarding flow. Users who never install it cannot be reached, which is why the install prompt is built as part of the product.

PWA Audit and Performance Optimisation

When an existing web app installs but nobody keeps it, our engineers measure load behaviour on a mid-range handset and a poor connection, then fix what the numbers show. Install rate and return rate are the figures we work against, because those are what a progressive web app is built for.

PWA Maintenance and Platform-Change Monitoring

Apple and Google change what a web app may do, usually without warning and occasionally in ways that break an install flow. Our maintenance bench tracks those changes against your build and tells you when something you depend on has moved, rather than leaving your install rate to explain it.

Progressive Web Apps We Built, and What Changed After Launch

Install rate and release cadence are the figures that move on this kind of work, so those are the ones each of these names.

The Teams Who Chose a Web App Over Native

The people who commissioned this work describe it in their own words, on platforms that verify the engagement before the review is published.

Reviewed on Clutch
Easy to work with Aipxperts because they dropped right into our agency's stack of comms and project management tools.
PresidentAdvertising & Marketing Agency – Denver, Colorado
Reviewed on GoodFirms
We have contracted a developer from Aipxperts now for several months, based on a referral. We have been very pleased with the quality of the work, the knowledge and skill level of our developer, and the value we're receiving for our fee. We also very much appreciate that the development team works at night (effectively), so we are sometimes able to turn client requests around in a day.There have been a couple of situations where we needed urgent help outside of our developer's normal business hours, and we've received that help (for which I am very grateful). While we have some challenges with communication sometimes, our overall satisfaction level is very high.
Jason LancasterPresident, Spork Marketing

How the PWA Decision Changes From One Sector to the Next

The variance here is unusually clean. It is whether your sector’s users need something on the platform’s unavailable list, and that decides the answer before any design work starts.

Retail

Staff-facing tools on shared devices are a strong fit, because nothing needs installing per user and updates reach everybody instantly. Barcode scanning through the camera works and a dedicated scanner does not, so we settle which of the two your floor staff actually use before designing anything. More on retail.

eCommerce

Install friction is the whole argument. A shopper who will not download an app will add a web app to their home screen, and push works once they have. We build the install prompt into the point in the flow where it converts rather than onto first load, because this is the strongest fit on the list and the prompt is what realises it. More on eCommerce.

Education and EdTech

Course material and assessments want to work offline and mostly do, but cache eviction means a student who opens the app once a term finds it empty. We design around that or recommend native, and the answer usually depends on how often the app is genuinely used. More on education and EdTech.

On-demand platforms

Booking and tracking do not need device access, and a web app removes the download step between a link and a completed request. We build operator-side tools on fixed tablets this way most often, where the fit is better still. More on on-demand platforms.

Food delivery

Customer ordering works well. The courier app usually does not, because background location while the app is closed is a native requirement rather than a preference, and we will say so before you scope one build to cover both. More on food delivery.

Mobile games

Casual and puzzle titles run acceptably and reach matters more than device access, so removing the download step from a share link is worth more than any sensor. Anything needing sustained graphics performance or store billing is not a candidate, and we will say so early. More on mobile games.

Logistics and warehousing

Depot and driver tools that mostly need forms, lists and a camera are a good fit, and updates reach a whole fleet without an app store. We establish first whether anything talks to a dedicated scanner or a vehicle unit, because that boundary decides the architecture rather than the design. More on logistics and warehousing.

What a Progressive Web App Cannot Do on iOS, Stated Plainly

This is the list a supplier should hand you before quoting, and most do not. Each of these is a real constraint on Apple hardware, and each either matters to your product or it does not.

LimitWhat it means in practiceWho it rules out
No background syncData moves when the user opens the app, never while it is closedCourier and field apps that must report position or status continuously
No Bluetooth or NFCThe app cannot talk directly to hardwareAnything pairing with a device, reader, charger or wearable
Storage ceilingCached data is capped, and heavy media hits it firstOffline video, large document libraries, map tiles at scale
Cache eviction after inactivityAn app unopened for around a week loses its cacheProducts used monthly rather than weekly, unless designed to recover
Push needs installation firstNotifications only reach users who added it to the home screenRe-engagement strategies that assume every visitor is reachable
No app store presenceNo store listing, no store search, no store reviewsProducts whose discovery depends on store search rather than the web

Why Aipxperts Is a Different Kind of PWA Development Company

On a technology defined partly by what it cannot do, the useful supplier is the one who tells you the limits first. These are the things Aipxperts does differently, and one of them regularly costs us the build.

01The capability list arrives before the quoteWhat this cannot do on iOS is short, specific and checkable, and it goes into the scope document. A supplier who sells you a progressive web app without handing you that list is selling you a discovery you will make in month three.

02Everything gets tested on a real iPhoneInstall behaviour, push permission, storage eviction and offline handling all behave differently on Apple hardware. Our device lab exists for exactly this, and each build stage names what gets checked there.

03The platform facts you are given carry a dateWhat a web app can and cannot do on iOS changes, and advice written three years ago is still repeated as current all over this market. Anything we hand you is dated and owned by a named engineer, so you can see when it was last checked.

04Our assessment can recommend native, and regularly doesA supplier whose feasibility assessment always concludes in favour is running a sales process rather than an assessment, and Aipxperts would rather lose the build than sell you one that cannot do the job. Our iOS page exists precisely so that recommendation has somewhere to go.

05Where we stopWe do not wrap a web app for store submission, because that changes what you own and what gets reviewed. And there is no staffed overnight rota here, so a product needing overnight cover needs your own on-call.

Our PWA Development Process, and What Gets Tested on Apple Hardware

A progressive web app behaves correctly on Android and differently on iOS, so the platform that constrains the build is the one every stage is checked against. Each stage names what our engineers verify on a real iPhone.

01Capability check against the platform limitsYour feature list is tested against what iOS does not support, and anything on that list is resolved before scoping rather than during the build. Nothing goes near a device yet, because this is the stage that decides whether there is anything worth building.02Offline and caching strategyWhat gets cached, how much, and what the product does when the cache is empty, designed against the real storage ceiling. Our engineers verify eviction behaviour on a real iPhone by leaving the app unopened past a week and confirming it recovers.03Service worker and manifestInstall behaviour, icons, splash screens and update handling, which are the parts that decide whether it feels installed or bookmarked. We test the add-to-home-screen flow on an iPhone, because iOS shows no install prompt of its own and users have to be told.04Core buildThe product itself, built as a web app with the platform constraints already resolved rather than discovered. Every release runs on real hardware, including an older device still in genuine use.05Push notification implementationWeb push on both platforms, with the iOS condition that the app must be installed first handled inside onboarding. We check the permission prompt after installation on a real device, which is the step most implementations miss.06Performance and install experienceLoad behaviour on a mid-range device and a poor connection, because that is the condition most of your users are actually in. Our engineers measure first load, repeat load from cache, and what happens when the connection drops mid-session.07Launch, measurement and handoverInstall rate, engagement and release cadence measured against whatever you had before, then documentation and the codebase handed over. We verify the update path on an iPhone, so a new release reaches an installed user without them reinstalling.

The Framework and Service Worker Layer We Build On

What our engineers build progressive web apps with, across the framework, the service worker layer, offline storage and the delivery path. Chosen for what your own team can maintain afterwards rather than for what is newest.

Frontend

reactReactNext.jsangularAngularvuedotjsVue.jsNuxtsvelteSveltetypescriptTypeScriptwebpackWebpackviteVite

Backend

nodedotjsNode.jsExpress.jsnestjsNestJSdjangoDjangolaravelLaravelNETfirebaseFirebasesupabaseSupabasegraphqlGraphQL

UI and styling

tailwindcssTailwind CSSbootstrapBootstrapmuiMaterial UIchakrauiChakra UIionicIonicsassSASS

PWA libraries and offline layer

WorkboxIndexedDBDexie.jsReduxZustandreactqueryReact QueryWeb Push

Databases

postgresqlPostgreSQLmysqlMySQLmongodbMongoDBfirebaseFirebaseredisRedismongodbRealmsqliteSQLite

Testing, build and monitoring

PWABuilderLighthouse CIjestJestvitestVitestcypressCypressplaywrightPlaywrightBrowserStacksentrySentrygoogleanalyticsGoogle AnalyticsgithubactionsGitHub Actions

Ratings From Clients We Sometimes Talked Out of a Build

Here the review worth finding is from a client who was told to build native instead. That is the one that tells you the assessment was real rather than a sales step.

Upwork4.8150 reviewsClutch5.012 reviewsGoogle4.335 reviewsGoodFirms5.05 reviews

Data, Storage and Independent Evidence on Web App Work

This kind of app stores data on a device you do not control, under rules the platform sets and changes, which makes storage behaviour a data question as much as a technical one. The NDA is signed first, and credentials go to the named engineers on your engagement through your own accounts wherever the platform allows it, logged throughout and withdrawn at close.

What is cached on the device, and for how longCached data is a design decision here rather than a default. On iOS the ceiling is finite and unopened caches are evicted after around a week, so our engineers choose what gets stored locally deliberately and document it.What happens to data at evictionAnything not synced is gone. So sync-on-open behaviour gets designed rather than assumed, and where the data matters we build the product to survive an empty cache without losing a user’s work.How access is granted and withdrawnNDA first. Credentials go to the named engineers on your engagement, through your own accounts wherever the platform allows it, logged throughout and withdrawn at close with the withdrawal recorded in the handover pack.What we holdNo ISO 27001 and no SOC 2. Where GDPR applies, on-device storage counts as processing, so we design it with a lawful basis and a deletion path, which on a web app also means deciding what happens when somebody clears their browser.

What Clients Ask Before Choosing a Progressive Web App

Cost, offline behaviour, app store reach, and the cases where a native build is the better call.

Share your project vision

Tell us what you want to build. A specialist, not a salesperson, replies.

PDF, DOC or image, up to 10MB. Optional.
My idea is confidential – happy to sign an NDA.

Whether you are building new or converting an existing web app, how much offline behaviour is required, and how many integrations sit behind it. Conversion is usually the smaller piece of work. Defined builds run fixed cost, and ongoing product work runs as a dedicated team or on time and materials.

Yes, including installation to the home screen and push notifications. What it will not do on iOS is listed in full above. If you have been told a progressive web app cannot install on iPhone, that information predates 2023.

One codebase, no store review, no download step, and instant updates. Against that, no background sync, no Bluetooth or NFC, a storage ceiling and no store presence. Whether that trade works is a product question rather than a technical one, and we settle it in the assessment.

It is possible to wrap one for submission and we do not do it. Wrapping changes what gets reviewed and what you own, and a product that genuinely needs store distribution usually needs native capability too.

What you designed to happen. Cached content stays available and actions queue for sync when the connection returns. What does not happen on iOS is syncing while the app is closed, so anything depending on that is a native requirement.

Yes, and better than a native app will. It is a website, so every page is indexable and shareable by link, which is the discovery advantage that offsets having no store listing.

Usually yes, and without a rewrite. Our engineers add the service worker, manifest, offline behaviour and push to what you already have. The caching strategy is the part that needs real thought, because the storage ceiling applies from day one.

By being told, because iOS shows no install prompt. We design that moment into the onboarding flow rather than leaving it to a browser that will not offer it, which is the single most common reason install rates disappoint.

You do, from the first commit. It is a web application in your repository, deployed to your infrastructure, with nothing proprietary of ours embedded in it.

When the product needs background location, Bluetooth or NFC, heavy offline media, or discovery through store search. Any one of those is enough. We would rather tell you at the assessment than after you have paid for a build that cannot do the job.

Get the Capability List Before You Budget for Anything

Send us the feature list, or the native quote you are trying to avoid. Our PWA development services start with a straight answer on whether a web app covers it, what you would be giving up, and where the honest recommendation is native instead.

Send Us the Feature List

Notes From the Service Worker Layer

Our engineers and consultants write up what they learn on live projects: architecture decisions, model evaluation results, and the trade-offs behind them. Written for the people who will implement them.