Ola announces Progressive Web App, a lightweight mobile site for 2G networks

Popular ride hailing app Ola announced the launch of its Progressive Web app (PWA), a lightweight data-friendly mobile website, aimed at users in small towns and cities for an app-like experience on low-end smartphones. It was launched together with Google at Google's I/O 2017 event in San Francisco.

Ola PWA is similar to the native app in terms and looks and feel, but uses very less data. It can operate on 2G speeds, and users can make offline bookings via the website as well. It is said to load in just 3.4 seconds on 2G networks, and OLA claims that its PWA consumes 50kb data on first payload and 10kb on subsequent loads. 

"Using just 200KB of data to install, the PWA is at least 300X smaller than downloading the Android app and 500X smaller than downloading their iOS app. Repeat visits use as little as 10KB. This low data consumption translates into a 3.4-second first visit and less than a second for repeat visits on 2G and 3G networks-an ideal solution for millions of Indians," notes the Google blog . 

Using OLA PWA, users can book an Ola Cab across all categories and pay for the ride through Ola Money. It also offers other features like OTP verification for rides, use of maps for pickup and drop location, ride later options and use of share pass.

For the uninitiated, PWA helps app developers to create a light-weight version of their app for users who don't have enough storage to install and app or Internet bandwidth to run them. Facebook, Twitter and Flipkart also have PWA version of their app. 

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