Most companies that want an app already have most of one: a website or web application their customers use every day. Midnight Bytes specializes in converting those into progressive web apps (PWAs), which install to the home screen, open full screen like any other app, keep working on a poor connection, and can send push notifications, without rebuilding everything twice for two app stores.
Why a PWA conversion
- One codebase. The same app runs on iPhone, Android, tablets and desktop, so every feature ships everywhere at once.
- Faster and cheaper to build. You start from the site you already have instead of two new native apps.
- Instant updates. Changes go live when you deploy, with no app-store review queue and no waiting for users to update.
- Found on the web, kept on the phone. A PWA is still a website, so search engines index it and links open it, and customers can install it in one tap.
- App-store presence when you want it. A PWA can be listed on Google Play as a Trusted Web Activity, and wrapped for other stores where it makes sense.
What a conversion includes
Installable
A web app manifest with your name, icons, colors and launch behavior, so the app installs to the home screen and opens full screen with your branding, plus a considered install prompt rather than a nag.
Fast and offline-ready
A service worker that caches the app shell and the content that matters, so the app opens instantly, keeps working on a weak or missing connection, and syncs when it's back.
Feels native
Touch-friendly layouts, safe areas around notches, app-style navigation and transitions, and the details that make the difference between "a website on my phone" and "an app".
Push notifications
Web push on Android and desktop, and on iPhone and iPad for apps added to the Home Screen (supported since iOS 16.4), wired into your back end with sensible opt-in.
Device features
Camera, sharing, location and other device capabilities where the browser supports them, with graceful fallbacks where it doesn't.
Measured
Lighthouse and real-world performance checks before and after, and analytics for installs and engagement, so you can see what the conversion changed.
When native makes sense
A PWA isn't right for everything. Apps that depend on deep hardware access, heavy background processing or platform features the web doesn't expose may need a native or cross-platform app. We'll tell you honestly which fits, and build native and cross-platform apps when that's the better answer, often alongside a PWA that shares the same back end.
Recent example
For The People's Standard we built an installable web app alongside a Chrome extension, both on the same PHP and PostgreSQL back end, so shoppers get product scores on their phone and in their desktop browser. Read the case study.
How it works
1. Audit
We review your current site or web app for performance, mobile usability and readiness, and agree which app features matter most to your customers.
2. Convert
Manifest, service worker, offline behavior, mobile UX fixes and push, built and tested on real iPhone and Android devices.
3. Launch
Release on the web with an install experience, and on Google Play or other stores if wanted, with monitoring and support after launch.
Related work
Turn your site into an app
Send us your site or web app and tell us what you want it to do on a phone. The first consultation is free.