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by DCH3416 602 days ago
Because it's a pain in the ass to distribute. And there's not much for support integrated into mobile operating systems for seamless browser windows.

MacOS is getting there kind of lately with safari being able to turn web pages into apps. But there isn't really built in mechanisms for that: https://www.macrumors.com/2023/06/14/how-web-apps-work-macos...
2 comments
ChocolateGod 602 days ago
Web apps will always on paper be slower (not including badly made applications on both) than native apps, and also bring in additional security issues (since code is loaded remotely) than native applications.
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johnny22 602 days ago
apps built using the webview don't necessarily have to be loaded remotely. If you're building with capacitor, then nothing happens remotely until you choose.

The part about being slower is still true though.

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anon7000 602 days ago
The funny part is that it’s actually not a pain in the ass to distribute. On iOS, saving the current link to the homescreeen installs the PWA (if available). You don’t have to do anything other than tap a button in the share menu. iOS treats it like an app, showing it in the app switcher and search, etc.

People just don’t know it’s an option. And as you say, there are fewer native APIs available to it.

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