Ola launches 'Progressive Web App' to help acquire customers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities

Cab aggregator Ola today announced the launch of its ‘Progressive Web App’ (PWA), a lightweight mobile website that offers users, especially in smaller towns and cities, an app-like experience on simple smartphones. The company claims that it requires a fraction of the data used by native apps. Launched together with Google at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco today, PWA will enable the use of the Ola platform across hundreds of cities in India and addresses a significant market opportunity for customers and driver partners, the company said in a release. It said Ola becomes the first ride-hailing app in the APAC region to use PWA technology. “As the first ride-hailing app in the APAC region that is using PWA technology, this represents an important development that will enable us to reach an ever greater number of customers and driver partners in rural India,” Ola Co-Founder and CTO Ankit Bhati said. “PWA will overcome technological barriers to enter key markets and make Ola the first ride-sharing platform in hundreds of cities across India, where there is limited connectivity and a prevailing use of low-end smartphones,” the release added. “It’s exciting to see Ola create their PWA, which will ensure their users have an engaging experience from the very first moment,” Google VP Product Management, Chrome Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, said.