PWA is the label for “do things like an app in the browser”. Things like easy install on the homescreen, storing a lot of data locally, notifications, nfc, bluetooth, location and camera (in a user-friendly way), … This is something people definitely want to do, but can’t, and that’s why PWA remains stuck for a niche audience.

The main problem is mobile safari. It is such a limited environment that basically apps are impossible to do for real world use cases in the browser. So, by necessity, even though I was hired to work on the web platform for my organization, I’m now working on a native app.

Apple has handicapped the mobile browser to the point where you have to go native. It is even worse than the IE days, because back then you could make a single web app that supported all browsers. You could have a web-only strategy. This is no longer possible for most organizations.

I do think that for us developers PWAs are great. But for users, not so much IMO. Native apps (even the ones made with React Native or similar tech) are 99% of the time of higher quality than a web app.

That comes down to having more possibilities (even with every PWA feature implemented, there would still be so many missing), greater performance and battery efficiency.

As a developer I would love to see PWAs get more capabilities, but as a user I don't want my native apps to get replaced with PWAs to save on some money.

My thoughts are similar. It’s possible to make high quality, kinda-native-feeling PWAs, but that definitely doesn’t come for “free”. In fact it takes a level of attention to detail and craftsmanship that frankly few developers seem willing or capable of, whether that’s due to indifference on behalf of the developer or management riding their ass pushing them to ship sooner.

So the most likely outcome is that the average PWA would be less pleasant to use than the average app, which is a pretty clear cut loss for users.

A lot of users won't install a native app but will use your web app.

From a user POV: Installing a native app is a decision. The native app capabilities let it do shady stuff with ads and exfiltrating your PII, might eat your battery, spam you with with notifications, and in case you forget to uninstall an annoying app it's a fail-open situation where it can keep on doing all this stuff in the background unless some day you remember to uninstall it. Browser ad blockers don't work on them. The app only works on your phone and with someprobability a web version doesn't exist, so it's a piece of tech that is inaccessible using a real computer, with a real screen and keyboard etc.

its still just an assumption that pwa success is blocked behind some chicken and egg problem. i dont think you can say it is “definitely” something people (lots of them) want. as of right now it looks like the people who want it most are giant platforms like Google, Amazon and Facebook who want to build game platforms that circumvent in app purchases. thats a valid reason and if its meant to broaden it will. these companies are worth trillions after all

> Things like easy install on the homescreen, storing a lot of data locally, notifications, nfc, bluetooth, location and camera

> The main problem is mobile safari.

Ah yes. "The problem". And not the fact that a lot of what you want is badly specified, poorly implemented and considered harmful by both Safari and Firefox: https://webapicontroversy.com/

Modern PWAs are inferior to products compared built with more traditional means.

Show me a traditional App Store app that doesn’t pay 30% of IAP to Apple.

Easy, any app that is making less than a million a year, or any app where people have been subscribed for over a year. They pay 15%. Also you didn't specify the app even had to be paid, so any free app counts too.

This was only true a couple months ago and required a them to be sued by Epic (and a general "trust busting" attitude from the new admin) for them to drop it. They didn't do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Well, Tim Cook testified under oath that they had been doing the change to 15% for under $1M before the actual Epic Games lawsuit was filed, and that it had been in the works for over a year. And Biden had not been elected yet, even when they rolled out the 15% change Biden still wasn't President.

Unless you actually believe that Tim Cook committed perjury.

>Unless you actually believe that Tim Cook committed perjury.

One. He knows there are no way to prove him wrong. Just like many other things he had said during Apple vs Qualcomm and Apple vs IMG. When there are ample of evidence his word are either lying by omission or a spin on a word's definition.

Two, AFAIK, he didn't said "they had been doing the change to 15% for under $1M before the actual Epic Games lawsuit was filed, and that it had been in the works for over a year."

He said and I quote "probably has its origins several years ago". They could trace that back as Phil Schiller's letter to Tim Cook on App Store if it needs to be.

Listen to yourself. “Under the works.” Dude, c’mon of course it was the lawsuits.

Wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it, for this very topic in fact n

PWAs are just mobile Web sites and they are doing just fine, regardless on how someone feels like calling them.

99% of applications don't need to be an app, a Web page with some fancy data form and data presentation widgets is all that is needed.

Best of all, I don't need to deal with the mess that Android development has turned into.