If links don't fully address an item then opening it in a tab won't work.

That isn't a limitation of SPA or browser based apps though. For that matter, even having an option to open an app multiple times is often a limitation of desktop apps. That doesn't make them somehow deficient as a platform.

It does. You don't open the "app" multiple times, you open lists or records in separate windows and/or tabs. That is a thing in desktop apps also. SPAs usually break it by tunneling everything through a single url, perhaps with anchors.

But opening lists/records in another window/tab isn't a limitation of the browser environment, or SPA in particular. With proper router/caching in place it can be done within a browser app as well.