It wasn't long ago that Hyvä made its entrance - and since then, its popularity has grown to such an extent that Progressive Web Application (PWA) has found a worthy competitor.
So if you are in doubt about whether to choose the new Hyvä theme or the always reliable PWA as the frontend for your Magento 2, then read on and learn more about both the advantages and disadvantages.
Magento is a powerful and advanced e-commerce platform that is suitable for a variety of businesses and organizational sizes. Therefore, it can be the ideal platform for both medium and large companies that require a solution with advanced features and the ability to handle large product catalogs, numerous product variants, complex product attributes, and experience high traffic.
Magento is capable of organizing and presenting the many products in a structured manner.
In general, Magento is a good solution for building a professional and scalable online store. If your business has plans for growth and expanding its online presence, Magento can effectively meet increasing demands and traffic.
As you encounter changing requirements, you can also benefit from Magento's high level of customization and flexibility. This means you can always create a unique and tailored experience for your customers, even across different countries and languages.
Magento also ensures secure international trading. If you need multiple languages, currencies, and regional adaptations, the platform's multilingual and multi-currency features can be valuable to you.
However, it's worth noting that while Magento offers a powerful platform with a wealth of possibilities, it can also be complex and resource-intensive. Therefore, it's always advantageous to collaborate with a skilled and experienced Magento developer who can assist you with your Magento tasks.
With new developments from Magento, including Hyvä, the frontend experience has become much more user-friendly for businesses operating on Magento.
Today, the Hyvä theme is a good frontend alternative to Progressive Web Application (PWA) - so which one should you choose?
What is Progressive Web Application (PWA)?
PWA (Progressive Web Application) represents a modern approach to web development, combining the best of websites and native mobile apps. This enables delivering an enhanced user experience across various devices.
A Progressive Web App functions on all browsers and with progressively more functionality, depending on the user's browser and device. This means that even if the user has an older or less powerful browser, they can still access the app, while a more modern browser will provide access to more advanced features.
Some of the key features include:
- Responsive design: PWAs are designed to adapt to different screen sizes and devices, providing a consistent experience on mobile, tablet, and desktop.
- Fast loading time: By utilizing techniques like caching, PWAs load quickly, giving users a responsive experience even with slow internet connections.
- Offline functionality: PWAs have the ability to store some data locally, allowing users to access certain parts of the app even when they are offline or have limited internet access.
- Security: PWAs require access via a secure HTTPS connection, protecting both users' data and the app's integrity.
- App-like navigation: PWAs offer app-like navigation with smooth transitions between pages, creating a more seamless and natural user experience.
PWAs are popular because they allow businesses and developers to reach users across platforms and devices without having to develop separate apps for each platform. This can lead to a more cost-effective and broader reach.
However, there are also some drawbacks to PWAs, including:
- PWA compatibility is limited to certain devices.
- PWAs don't utilize Apple device features like Touch ID or Bluetooth.
- PWAs are not compatible with outdated browsers.
- PWAs need some development work to meet the standard of native apps.
What is Hyvä?
Hyvä is a performance-optimized frontend platform for Magento 2, designed to enhance user experience by significantly increasing the speed of Magento 2 webshops while also meeting Google's requirements for Core Web Vitals.
The Hyvä template is written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it simple for developers to add or remove functionalities as needed.
Some of the key features of Hyvä include:
- "Performance like never before": Hyvä scores a perfect 100/100 in Google PageSpeed and consistently passes Core Web Vitals on all measured metrics, primarily due to a substantial reduction in complex code.
- Hyvä theme is a good PHP alternative for both headless and PWA solutions: It requires less code, resulting in less complexity. Therefore, working with Hyvä is easier and more enjoyable.
- You can reduce your time-to-market, leading to cost savings: Users of Hyvä report saving an average of 30-50% of the time they would normally spend setting up landing pages in Luma or PWA solutions.
But that's not all; you will also benefit from other things, such as:
- Hyvä is a one-time purchase with a wealth of options
- Leading to lower costs.
- You get access to over 140 compatible extensions.
- Theme updates are always included.
- Each Hyvä installation can be used on one Magento 2 shop but across all the domains available on your shop.
The main goal of Hyvä is to address the most common problems experienced with Magento's standard frontend, including outdated technologies, poor performance, and high development costs.
However, there are some drawbacks to Hyvä, which include:
- Hyvä is not an entirely open-source template. An administrator must purchase a license.
- Hyvä is not compatible with all Magento versions. To use Hyvä-compatible templates, you need to upgrade your Magento store to the latest version.
- Hyvä templates are not compatible with all third-party plugins.
PWA vs. Hyvä
There are indeed many advantages to both PWA and Hyvä, as well as disadvantages for both options.
Below is a comparison of some features that may be crucial for your business when choosing the most effective frontend.
Performance
Hyvä places a strong emphasis on store performance. Therefore, with Hyvä, you will experience a significant increase in the speed of your website, and your customers will encounter a seamless user interface.
PWA can also ensure good performance, partly because it utilizes the browser's cache system. The PWA solution will always be faster than Hyvä; however, all development will consequently become more resource-intensive and costly.
Scalability
In recent years, many more PWA-compatible Magento extensions have entered the market, providing a wealth of opportunities to create a unique store with the third-party plugins you are familiar with.
The story is different with Hyvä. You will indeed find yourself far more challenged with a PWA solution than with Hyvä. In many cases, a non-Hyvä-compatible module will require much less adaptation, while a non-PWA-compatible module will demand a significant rewrite due to the substantial technological difference.
Hyvä's official list of compatible modules can be found here.
Functionality
Hyvä is the perfect choice for both small and large businesses, partly due to the reduced need for coding and lower development costs. And everything will be easy and accessible in Hyvä.
If PWA is configured correctly, it can handle any website's functionality. PWAs are thus a suitable solution for businesses of all sizes - whether they are start-ups or large enterprises.
And, of course, it won't have any impact on the performance.
Things to remember when choosing a frontend
There are some different factors you should always consider when choosing the right frontend theme.
Here are some of the most significant ones:
Objectives
It is crucial to consider the specific goals of your webshop when ensuring you choose the right appearance, feel, and functionality. If you desire a fast website, Hyvä might be the right choice.
If you want a website without third-party limitations, a PWA-based frontend could be suitable.
User-friendliness
When searching for a theme for your frontend, you may come across numerous options - some more flashy than others. Some may be filled with beautiful graphics, animations, and creative solutions, but just because they are visually exciting doesn't necessarily make them ideal for you.
When choosing the right theme, focus on user-friendliness and avoiding confusion for both internet and external users
An overloaded theme with too many unnecessary features, such as inefficient image galleries or meaningless widgets, can impact your website's functionality, making it slower to load.
While you want your website to look fantastic and offer all the functionalities your visitors need, do not compromise user-friendliness and performance for aesthetics.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization))
Success in online search results depends on SEO. The quality of your content and its optimization influence your website's ranking.
Fast loading, responsive design, and clean code are excellent for SEO. Never accept a theme that is not optimized for SEO.
Mobile Optimization
Mobile interface should always be considered.
More and more people are using mobile devices to browse the internet, making it essential to have a mobile-optimized website to provide users with a seamless browsing experience.
Performance can also be an issue for webshops that are not mobile-optimized. Choosing a responsive theme that is already prepared and optimized for smartphones and tablets can make a significant difference in website traffic.
