Progressive web app or native app: what does your platform need?

“Do we need an app?” comes up in almost every platform project. A few years ago, the answer often meant building separate iPhone and Android apps. Today, an installable web app, known as a progressive web app or PWA, covers most of what a platform needs from a phone, at a fraction of the cost.

What a progressive web app is

A PWA is your website with app features. Visitors can install it to their home screen, it opens full screen like an app, it loads pages they have visited even on a weak connection, and it can send notifications. On iPhones, notifications work for web apps added to the home screen from iOS 16.4 onwards.

Why a PWA is often enough

• One platform to build and maintain, instead of a website plus two apps.
• No app store approval, so updates reach users instantly.
• Nothing to download from a store, so more visitors actually install it.
• Found in Google, like every other page of your site.
• A much lower cost, because it is part of the platform you are already building.

When native apps are worth it

• You need deep device features, such as background location, Bluetooth or advanced camera controls.
• Being in the App Store and Google Play is part of your marketing.
• Your users expect a native app, as they often do in banking or fitness tracking.

Native apps are a separate project with their own budget, design work and store reviews.

A sensible path

1. Launch the platform as an installable web app.
2. Watch how people use it on their phones.
3. Build native apps later, if the evidence says you need them.

Try it on this site

This site is an installable web app too. On your phone, open the browser menu and choose “Add to Home Screen” or “Install app”, and it opens like any other app.

Every platform I build can be installed as a web app. See what I build, or read what a marketplace costs to build.