“We want an app too.” It’s one of the requests we hear often. Sometimes it’s exactly right. Other times, an app would cost several times more than a good website and be used less.
The question we start from is simple: what will the app do that a website can’t? If the answer is “nothing”, a fast website designed for phones is probably enough. And between the two there is a middle option: the installable web app, or PWA (Progressive Web App).
What a PWA is
A PWA is a website that behaves like an app:
- it can be installed on the phone’s home screen, with its own icon, and opens full screen, without the browser bar;
- it can work partly offline, keeping recently used pages and data on the phone;
- it can send notifications, including on iPhone since iOS 16.4, once added to the home screen1;
- it updates instantly, like any website, without new versions in the app stores and without waiting for approvals.
And, importantly, it’s still a website: it is found in Google, opens from a link and doesn’t ask anyone to install anything to use it.
When a good website or a PWA is enough
- Customers use you occasionally. A restaurant menu, an appointment, an order, a booking: few people install an app for something they do once a month. A link that opens instantly brings them to you more easily.
- You want to be found in Google. A website’s pages show up in search; an app’s screens don’t.
- You have an internal tool for your team. An order panel, a task list, a field app: a PWA installed on colleagues’ phones does the job, with no app store accounts.
- The budget is limited. One product for desktop, Android and iPhone, instead of three.
When you need a real app
- You use the phone’s features heavily. On iPhone, a website has no access to Bluetooth or NFC, for example. For devices, readers or sensors, you need native code.
- The app has to work in the background or stay fully offline for long periods.
- Customers use it daily and you want it always one tap away, with reliable notifications.
- Being on the App Store and Google Play matters for your image or for how customers look for you.
On iPhone, installing isn’t obvious
On Android, the browser offers to install a PWA on its own. On iPhone, the user has to add it manually from the share menu, and notifications only work after that step. What’s more, the way iPhones treat web apps depends on Apple’s decisions: in 2024, Apple announced it would remove them in the European Union, then reversed the decision a few weeks later2.
What each one costs
| What we compare | Good website | PWA | App in the stores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development | lowest | a little above a website | highest |
| Developer accounts | no | no | Apple 99 USD/year, Google 25 USD once3 |
| Publishing | immediate | immediate | after store approval |
| Updates | instant | instant | new versions, with approval |
| Found in Google | yes | yes | no |
| Access to the phone | minimal | partial | full |
The middle way: the hybrid app
If you need a few native features but the rest is an ordinary web app, there is also the hybrid option: a native app that loads the web interface from the server and adds only what it needs from the phone. That’s how we built the apps for inMotion, with a native QR code scanner, push notifications and PDF documents. We explained how it works in detail in our article on native, cross-platform and hybrid apps.
How we choose
Before any quote, we go through a few questions together:
- What does the app have to do that a website can’t? If the list is empty, we start from a good website.
- How often will people use it? Rarely: a website or PWA. Daily: an app is worth considering.
- Which phone features do you need? The camera and notifications can work on the web too; Bluetooth, NFC or background work call for an app.
- Who uses it? For customers, being found in Google and ease of use matter; for your team, a PWA installed on the phone is often enough.
Sometimes the best advice we can give you is not to build an app yet. A fast website that works well on phones brings in more customers than an app nobody installs. If you need one, we’ll build it; if you don’t, we’ll tell you.
WebKit, Web Push for Web Apps on iOS and iPadOS. ↩
MacRumors, Apple Walks Back Decision to Disable Home Screen Web Apps in the EU, March 2024. ↩
Apple, Apple Developer Program; Google, Play Console Help: developer account registration. ↩
Cover image: www.Pixel.la Free Stock Photos, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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