> Using apps instead of websites we're killing the whole concept of making information and services available using a standard protocol

I think the interesting thing to note here is that for most end users a standard protocol is not nearly as appealing as a standard user interface. Like how most iOS apps follow common navigation paradigms, so users don't need to spend time learning each new one. And how people tend to prefer buying things on Amazon instead of any random webshop. And how WeChat has almost become a little web of its own with custom chat UIs for e.g. ordering pizza. If open software for consumers is ever to stop being beaten by these walled gardens, it needs to get a ton more UX people involved and focus on the end user UX, not just the technical implementation.

IMHO I think you've hit the nail on the head. iOS main attraction for many users I know is the simplicity. You can complain all day about Apple's guidelines and iron fist enforcement, and I'd occasionally agree with you too, probably many times. Simple fact is though that outside the walled garden everyone complains about is a jungle of terrible UX, laggy interfaces, slow loading web pages dumping megabytes of trackers and advertising through a connection you're paying for.

I'm not saying the App Store is perfect, not by a country mile is it. I'm just saying if you compare it to the Play store, and the wider Internet, holy moly do walled gardens look nice.

"I think the interesting thing to note here is that for most end users a standard protocol is not nearly as appealing as a standard user interface."

That is very true too. I often wondered what would have happened had someone created say 10 years ago an email client with strict protocol compatibility but employing an higher abstraction layer where discussions/attaches are managed automatically just like in a Whatsapp chat (chat -> mail list) using a similar UI. Probably most users would have rejected the idea because they had no intention to learn a new thing nobody was using. So, back to square one.

One of the most appealing things for end users is instant loading. That's why apps are preferred on mobile, but websites on desktop.

And branding. If an user downloads your app he puts an icon with your logo on his phone screen, possibly near other people watching. That doesn't happen when he taps on a browser icon. Not to mention that he also executes your code on his phone, code that almost always will ask for full access to media and contacts to be installed.

That's why we need decentralized solutions that break the hold the current centralized platforms have on us.

Not every user is smart. That's why there is a necessity for centralized/trusted solution. I wouldn't sleep well if I knew my mom could install a malware by mistake on appstore. Unfortunately, life is not this simple and every path there's a toll.

The problem wasn't that we didn't have decentralized solutions since the 1960s -- it was that we've never figured out a way to make hosting your own environment as easy / cheap as using an externally managed one.