Smartphone Browser localStorage is up to 5x Faster than Native Cache (New Research)
As a web developer you know that creating engaging web UX means quickly delivering content that captures your visitor's attention.
The storage API, including localStorage, was designed to help web developers provide more app-like behaviour for the web than cookies previously allowed.
But it turns out you can also use localStorage to make your mobile website faster!
How much faster? Well, you can load some critical path resources such as a JavaScript that's required for your UX up to 3 - 5x faster using localStorage than from the browser's native cache. Using millions of data points from Real User Monitoring (RUM) I had the following surprising results.
What does this mean? It means you should absolutely be using localStorage for essential resources rather than depending on the browser's cache. This is a bold claim I'm happy to back with data, and I'm also very curious to hear from the community on your own test results. For more details on how I collected and analyzed my results, read on.