With Nigeria having the largest population of users of Opera web browser in Africa and the third largest user globally, the firm has announced it commitment to drive Progressive Web Apps to reduce cost of internet access in the country.
This according to Android Product Manager and Development Relations Lead at Opera, Mr. Andreas Bovens informed Opera’s partnership with Google to enhance the accessibility and usability of Progressive Web Apps for mobile phone users.
The initiative he said would result in considerable data savings for users and its growing population of Opera Mini Web browser users in the country.
Bovens said although mobile internet penetration in Nigeria currently stood at 94 per cent, the cost of data continues to be a significant barrier to internet access, which means Nigeria would have surpassed 94 per cent mobile internet penetration and broadband penetration, which is currently put at 10 per cent, if cost of data bandwidth was cheap.
He explained that the high cost forced most Nigerians to be more cautious when downloading apps, and that they have since developed a new trend of ‘side-load’ apps from laptops and desktop computers, from where they install it to their mobile phones.
According to him, PWAs provide the convenience of an app, including push notifications, along with faster speed and offline support, without incurring the data cost.
“PWAs also take up less storage space than traditional applications, making them ideal for use with smartphones,” Bovens said.
Unlike normal apps that often require access to personal information before launching, PWAs only request such permission when needed, thus allowing users to better control their privacy, Bovens added.
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