Pros and Cons of Single Page Applications

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, startup founder, or a developer, you need the best technologies to warm up your potential audiences. One of the most effective ways to do this is through Single Page Applications (SPAs).

As the name suggests, Single Page Applications are one-page websites. They offer critical information on a single page. As opposed to multi-page sites that reload whole new pages in response to user actions, single-page apps never reload entire pages. They update only the requested data. This gives users specific information within seconds without them having to wait for the whole page reloads. And, zero load delays lead to increased user engagement and improved sales.

SPAs are renowned for offering impeccable user experience. They provide quick navigation, high adaptability, and innovative layouts. They are a go-to solution for enterprises looking to build a complex and interactive app.

Let’s get a little technical here on what Single Page Applications are all about.

What is a Single Page Application?

An SPA or a Single Page Application is a web app that interacts with the web browser by rewriting the current web page with new data from the webserver instead of the browser loading whole new pages.

Simply put, when a user clicks on a particular button or a link or a tab within an SPA, the entire page does not get wiped out or reloaded, but only the content requested gets updated. A single-page site helps users get the desired content in a useful and straightforward way.

It offers outstanding UX with no extra page reload time.

Popular SPAs

Many of us are not even aware of the SPAs that we regularly use, such as:

• Facebook
• Gmail
• Google Maps
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Netflix
• Jira
• Airbnb
• Pinterest

and more.

To give you a sense of why companies and enterprises heavily invest in SPAs, we’ve outlined some of the key benefits these apps provide:

Benefits of Single Page Applications

• Excellent User Experience – SPAs offer a native-like environment and eliminate the frustration of reloading pages. They are the solution to the growing standards of fluid user experience – something that positively impacts business outcomes.
• Swift Loading Time – According to Google, if a particular web page requires more than 0.2 seconds to load, it can increase bounce rates and negatively impact sales. Unlike traditional web applications that reload entire interfaces on every request, SPAs load only the requested areas of a page within seconds.
• Less Bandwidth – SPAs load a web page only once; therefore, it requires less bandwidth than other web apps. SPAs can even function efficiently in areas with very poor Internet connectivity.
• Rich Functionalities – It is convenient to add sophisticated and advanced features to an SPA. For instance, if you want to build a content editing web application with real-time analysis, use the SPA approach.
• Caching and Offline Support – An SPA can cache local data efficiently. It sends a single request to a server and stores each data that it receives. It can use this data and work offline when there are connectivity issues.
• Adaptability and Flexibility – Developers can easily use an SPA web app code to create the mobile app. An SPA design is adaptive to mobile devices. Therefore, users don’t feel that they are viewing a static website page; instead, they feel that they’re using an app with a native look and feel.
• Debugging with Chrome – SPAs are developed with frameworks such as AngularJS or React. These frameworks come with their Chrome developer tools that make debugging SPAs simpler and quicker than debugging multi-page applications.
• Easy to Deploy – SPAs are super-easy to deploy. Only the static server must serve three files, namely the single page index.html, a CSS bundle, and the JavaScript bundle.

The benefits of using SPAs are undebatable. Without a doubt, SPAs are honest-to-goodness pieces of software that promise smooth user experience. However, despite their flexibility and simple maintenance, there are few downsides to SPAs that you shouldn’t ignore.

Drawbacks of Single Page Applications

• SPAs Require a Lot of Browser Resources – When it comes to SPAs, the browser does most of the heavy lifting; therefore, you must use the latest version of a browser packed with all the modern features for SPAs to function smoothly.
• Large Files Disrupt Performance – Many SPAs come with several images and videos. This hampers the app performance. These single page apps are supposed to be snappy and seamless, and large-sized content makes it harder for users to scroll through.
• Not SEO-friendly – SPAs do not have multiple pages or multiple URLs. They have only one page and one URL. Therefore, search bots do not get the chance to crawl and rank multiple keywords or URL addresses. As a result, SPAs do not perform well with SEO.

Barring some of these downsides, SPAs are perfect for dynamic platforms such as social networks, SaaS platforms, and closed communities or forums that do not require search engine optimizations.

The five most renowned SPA frameworks that developers extensively use are:

• VueJS
• ReactJS
• AngularJS
• MeteorJS
• BackboneJS

When Should You Use SPAs?

SPAs bring in massive business possibilities and deliver an incredible user experience that feels cohesive always. Given here are a few points that will help you understand when to use SPAs for your projects:

• If you are looking to create dynamic platforms with small data volume, use SPAs.
• If you plan to build a mobile app, strengthen your base by creating a SPA.
• If you want to develop close communities, SaaS platforms, social networks, or other platforms that don’t require SEO, SPA can be a great solution.
• If you’re interested to add real-time updates on your page, then creating SPAs is a must.
• SPAs can be a magic wand if you are looking to cut down on hardware costs.
• SPAs are perfect if you require offline processing, that is if you want to throw a life jacket to your visitors during situations like server outages.

Summing Up

To deliver an immersive and rich user experience, and make your app snappy, explore an SPA’s potentials.

Or contact our development team for best-in-breed SPA solutions that guarantee improved app performance, greater consistency, quick development time, and reduced infrastructure costs.