Both Hyvä and PWA are the trending buzzwords in the frontend environment of the e-commerce stores. The frontend plays an integral role in delivering the best quality user interface and experience to the users. Building a PWA or Hyva theme for your Magento store offers numerous advantages and will enhance the overall brand visibility and sales of your store. However, it becomes challenging for a Magento store owner to decide what can bring more value for the store Hyva or PWA. Thus, in this article, we will go through the in-depth comparison of the Hyva Theme and PWA and explore the reasons to choose one over the other for your website’s front-end theme.
PWA Introduction:
Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) act is a technology that bridges the gap between mobile applications and traditional websites. These are the web technologies-based apps that give the look & feel of a native mobile app. Simply put, these are extended websites with an app-like feel, features, and functionalities. The customers will experience using a native mobile while engaging with a PWA. If opened in the desktop browser, a PWA will look like a usual website, however, if opened on mobile the users can install a PWA just like a native mobile app.
It employs the existing web development technologies like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, React, Vue.js, and Angular for the front-end development. PWAs follow a headless architecture in which the backend & frontend of the application get separated which results in high adaptability and scalability.
Core Features:
These are the core features of a PWA:
- Native App-like Experience: The look & feel, engagement, interaction, and navigation of the Progressive Web Applications are just indifferent from a native mobile app.
- Better Speed & Performance: The PWAs are light and thus they have better speed and performance than both native apps and traditional websites.
- Device agnosticism: Unlike native mobile apps, PWAs are not limited to operating on a single OS but can work on multiple devices.
- Single Codebase: You are not required to develop an app for different operating systems like Android or iOS. A single codebase of the PWA can work on all OS.
- PWAs may be constructed using Magento PWA Studio, making them more native to Magento due to the use of a native web app. Furthermore, your PWA will be compatible with all future Magento 2 releases, as well as the complete ecosystem of PWA-ready extensions built by various Magento vendors.
- Utmost Security: PWA employs an SSL certificate which reduces the occurrence of any illegal activity like snooping, security breaches, content tampering, etc.
- Push Notifications: The push notifications functionality helps you reach out to your users by showing your latest offerings, updates, coupons, etc.
- SEO-indexing: There are search engine crawlers that identify the PWAs which improve your SEO rankings.
Hyvä Introduction:
Hyvä is a collection of frontend themes and tools specifically designed for Magento 2 which can simplify the complexities of existing Magento themes and improve performance. Hyva lets you develop a lightweight yet attractive Magento frontend that loads quickly. Hyvä accomplishes this by redesigning the Magento frontend, lowering code and simplifying its structure while retaining Magento’s built-in PHP templating system. It is a monolithic system which is fully responsive and can be used across a wide range of devices.
There are certain principles that Hyva theme follows; which are:
- Less Complexity: Hyva themes are full of features and powerful yet are quite elegant and simple.
- Better Performance: The Unique Selling Point of the Hyva theme is its performance which has made it a trending buzzword, and it is the key focus of the theme – to be fast.
- Better Developer Experience: Hyva is highly developer-friendly and developers aren’t required to go through a steep learning curve. Thus, it enables faster time to market.
- Enhanced Development Velocity: As Hyva is quite developer-friendly and easy to use, it is fast to implement and customize.
- Lesser Dependencies: There are very less dependencies of the Hyva theme on 3rd party libraries. By default, it has only two dependencies which are TailwindCSS and Alpine.js.
As an owner of a Magento store, you would want to compare the benefits of the Hyva theme and PWA on multiple parameters such as performance, functionality, scalability, pricing, and others. Let’s delve into all these parameters.
Performance:
The performance and speed of the website are highly critical to retaining and converting incoming traffic. We have mentioned multiple times that a 3-second delay in loading the page can make you lose 53% of the users. Apart from this, a slow website also affects your SEO rankings negatively as Google gives quite high priority to the speed of the website.
As we mentioned above, the core USP of the Hyva theme is its speed. Although it employs the same backend as Luma, the default theme of Magento; it effectively addresses the issues of Luma’s performance by replacing the unnecessary JS files and heavy libraries with a single JavaScript framework, Alpine.js. Along with this, the Hyva theme minimizes CSS output by leveraging the Tailwind CSS framework.
All these advancements in the Hyva theme make it exceptionally fast. It can easily attain 90 to 100 Google Lighthouse points. A better performance also leads to better SEO rankings. However, you must remember that the speed will depend upon the amount of customizations you apply and the development approach of your team. At Ceymox Technologies, our development team is well-versed in the Hyva theme and provides better performance.
In regards to Progressive Web Apps, they possess rapid and faster loading, even at slower or unstable internet connections. There are multiple reasons for the faster performance of a PWA:
- PWA leverages the browser’s cache and thus it is possible to prioritize resources to be rendered before using them.
- With programmable caching, PWA allows a flexible caching of the files on users’ devices. This led to uniquely handling the caching requirements of different devices. For instance, the lazy loading of the files may be required later in the session. Also, to reduce the server load time, web pages can cache (non-static) API call responses during the session.
- Service Workers are JS files acting like a proxy between browsers and servers. The PWAs use them to improve the overall performance and user experience by performing multiple functions and providing offline access.
In terms of performance, Hyva and PWA are replaceable to each other as they can render the web pages within 2 seconds.
Functionality:
Hyva has a very simple functionality. Its development history can explain its basic functionality. The founder of Hyva, Willem Wigman built Hyva to develop an online store for his wife. She has expertise in jewellery collections with a stock of 10-15 items. Thus, he decided to develop something really simple yet attractive and user-friendly. And ultimately he achieved it.
The core principles of Hyva’s theme are minimalism and reducing complexity. While Hyvä’s simplicity and basic approach are ideal for early-stage eCommerce firms and small local businesses, medium-sized and enterprise-level storefronts may require additional capabilities and adjustments. Nonetheless, it is still a good choice for big businesses, depending on their specific needs and priorities.
Progressive Web Applications come with a plethora of functionalities which include:
- Users can engage with the app in the offline mode and browse product catalogues
- Add-to-home-screen functionality allows users to install the PWA and easily access it
- Inform users about new offerings, coupons, etc with Push Notifications
- Automatic updates to offer the latest features while the users neither need to manually update nor refresh the app.
And many others…
Scalability:
Currently, Hyva can’t work with every extension out of the box. It provides the Hyvä Themes compatibility library to make the most commonly used extensions compatible with your store. Otherwise, look for modules that are branded as Hyvä is compatible. When you purchase a Hyvä license, you receive access to a plethora of compatibility extensions created by members of the open-source Hyvä Themes community. For instance, there are extensions like Klaviyo and Klevu in this library.
To install and integrate these extensions properly, you need to collaborate with an experienced development team like us. It is also because generally, Magento modules follow the integration method in focus on Luma themes, while there is a different development approach in Hyva. It requires adjustments to both JS and templates for seamless and fast operation.
There are many Magento development agencies which can develop and customize extensions as per the specific requirements of the Hyva Themes library.
In PWAs, you will get a huge range of extensions and integration options which increase their flexibility and functionality. There is a huge market of PWA-compatible extensions which is rapidly growing as the extension development companies are releasing PWA-ready extensions. Developers and businesses may modify PWAs to meet unique requirements and create a more engaging and efficient user experience by leveraging a robust ecosystem of extensions.
Development Speed:
In regards to the development process, Hyva offers a plethora of benefits. The code structure is quite streamlined and simplified which reduces the development time and costs. It is also easy for the developers to identify issues, resolve them, and add new features. It has the potential to save 30-50% on average build time. It also reduces the total cost of ownership (TOC) for businesses.
Moreover, by eliminating the complex elements such as RequireJS, Knockout, and UI Components, it improves the developer experience and they get an enjoyable part like Layout.xml, Blocks, and ViewModels. These fewer dependencies will not just make the developers feel good but also improve the development speed.
PWAs have the inherent advantage that their code can be reused across multiple platforms. The code is easy to maintain, and update which reduces the development cycle. Developers just require a single database to create PWAs which can run on multiple devices and browsers. Thus, there is no need to develop separate Android & iOS apps.
In addition to this, there are real-time updates in PWAs by which the users always get access to the latest features and content without strenuous app store submissions. This agility in development not only reduces time-to-market but also enables faster iterations and enhancements based on user feedback, resulting in a more dynamic and responsive development process.
You get 3 different online fronts i.e. website, Android app, and iOS app by just a single PWA.
Business Size:
The target businesses of Hyva are generally small to medium-sized businesses who are starting from scratch, or the existing online stores who are looking for faster theme alternatives. Hyva is a good option for them as it offers both speed and easiness. You can easily apply Hyva to give a new look to your online store without reconstructing your entire website. Hyvä is an excellent alternative for firms that require a quick launch and have no plans to make significant website adjustments in the future.
PWAs are a great choice for startups and online businesses which have limited budgets but want to seek a high and varied target audience present on both desktops and mobiles. We will highly recommend PWAs to businesses having huge catalogues and vast mobile audiences. Also, as PWA can work even with low internet speed they can be an ideal choice for businesses whose primary target audience resides in villages or rural areas where the internet connectivity is quite poor.
Time To Market:
Consider several main considerations when it comes to time to market, such as the agency’s experience with a given technology, the number of capabilities required for the release, the number of customizations you intend to apply, and the complexity of integration with current systems. The technology itself shortens the time to market, but the considerations listed above play a significant effect.
Pricing:
There is a time licensing fee payment of € 1,000 for the Hyva theme. It is usable for a single instance in Magento 2. It simply if you are running multiple stores on Magento 2, you will require only 1 license. This single license will give you access to an entire ecosystem which includes a Slack space, documentation, GitLab sources, compatibility modules, and support. Along with this, you also get access to the Hyva UI Component library which is easy to copy and customize in the theme.
The development costs depend on the complexity of the project and the hourly rate of the Hyva development agency. Also, you have to separately purchase Hyva Checkout as it is not included in the Hyva Themes package. The price for Hyva Checkout is a one-time payment of € 1,000.
The PWA development starts from nearly $5000 and the cost can go up to $15,000-$20,000 for a highly complex project. But you get a website and two apps at this cost. There is no need to develop a separate app for Android and iOS audiences. You can also use ready-made PWA products to reduce costs significantly.
Considerations While Choosing Between Hyva and PWA:
In all the aspects, both Hyva and PWA seem to be a great choices for online businesses as they offer multiple benefits and outstanding features. However, while making a decision, it is required to look after all the aspects. Here are some to consider while making a choice:
Progressive Web Applications (PWAs):
- Limited Compatibility with iOS: PWAs function on Apple devices running iOS 11.3 or later, although they have limitations, such as the inability to use capabilities such as Face ID, Touch ID, Bluetooth, and others.
- Limited Support for Obsolete Browsers: PWAs don’t work with the obsolete browsers which are no longer in use. Thus, if any user is accessing the PWA by an old browser, it will not work on that device.
Hyvä:
- Limited Compatibility with 3rd party extensions: Not every 3rd party extension can easily integrate with Hyva themes. Generally, an extension is built with the Luma theme integration in focus which raises the compatibility issues with the Hyva theme. Adapting these extensions for Hyvä frequently takes extensive rewrite of JavaScript, templates, and CSS.
Both:
- Magento Version Upgrade Required: Whatever option you choose, your Magento version must be 2.4 or higher. If you are currently utilizing an older Magento version, this may need more effort. Nonetheless, the effort is valuable because it assures that your online store has a visually beautiful and high-performing theme.
Wrapping Up:
Well, there needs to be a clear-cut approach to choosing the right solution. You have to identify your business requirements carefully and consult with the development partner. At Ceymox Technologies, the best Magento development company in India, we have expertise in both Hyva theme implementation and developing Progressive Web Applications from scratch. We have hands-on experience developing storefronts on Hyva and PWA
If you already know which is a better option for your eCommerce business or are still hesitating and need advice, we’re here to assist you. Book a FREE consultation with our experts and make an informed choice. Let us know your requirements.
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