[wahnfrieden]

I'm with you on users generally preferring app versions. It's IMO a huge jump to say that it's because iOS 6 UI is intuitive. Users go through a lot of training, more than they may realize: friends showing their iPhones, ads on TV showing the iPhone being used, some UI concepts borrowed from the desktop paradigm people are already used to, and just that once a UI has been in the mainstream's attention for six years, people are going to have had a lot of exposure to it. After all that it's easy to say it feels intuitive. There are intuitive elements but don't overlook the amount of "training" that happens.

Responsiveness is another reason native apps tend to win out. iOS adds delays when tapping links in Mobile Safari, etc. Users also have expectations of consistent behavior for native apps, unlike the web which is its own diverse platform - iOS 7 resembles web UI in some ways, but don't forget the hundreds of pages of human interface guidelines it comes with.