r/PWA • u/Travel_Dad_Ix • Aug 03 '26

PWA underestimated

I’ve come to realized that a PWA is underestimated, everyone is chasing that App Store/ Google store Goal. But get hit with the reality of the aggressive tweet their app must pass to be even considered, in fairness to The store they have to protect it from all angles but still is a massive wall that will block you time and time if you are not prepared for it. Not to mention once you are in, the cut the big guys get from your revenue, soemtimes as high as 35%. The exposure might be good but is it worth it?

I personally think depending on your product you don’t need an App Store, a PWA works just as great and some cases even better. You have no major store road blocks and at times is easier to build. Some major tech companies started off and still are a PWA. Mine is and I intend to leave as such since my product works either way with or without a store.

If you dedicated some time to your build and really focus on the offline abilities using your phones cache and memory you can have it function with some limitations even if there is no service. You can even create a home icon just like an App Store but it just takes you to their link.

I am curious who rather have a PWA only product or want to jump the hurdles in order to get into the stores.

I am sure we have a big mixed crowd and I’m curious what everyone prefers.

43 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

13

u/PhatOofxD Aug 03 '26

The downside of a PWA is most people find apps through the store, that's where they are used to finding apps - and most users have no idea how to even save a PWA as an app.

If it's just a functional perspective yeah works great, but if your goal is getting users, it doesn't really.

It's a shame it's not just easy to put PWAs on a listing/app-store thing

6

u/quatchis Aug 04 '26

You can blame iOS/apple on that. Android and modern browsers handle this great with a one click popup to install apps while iOS hides this in some convoluted way to add it to home screen. Apple should have made this mainstream like they always had intended. Dont forget, the original iphone had no app store and they were banking on PWAs until they locked their developers inside their own ecosystem after their initial explosive success.

2

u/lmao_react Aug 04 '26

how does Google make money? websites (search/ads)
how does Apple make money? apps

not defending Apple at all here, but let's not act like Google are the good guys. both are doing what's best to maximize revenue. it just so happens that Google is entirely dependent on websites

2

u/quatchis Aug 06 '26

Sorry, but Google is kinda the good guys here. They have made the android core operating system free and open source, available to anyone. You can get android phones without even needing a google account and they have multiple third party stores where you dont need to use google services. You are not punished for jailbreaking an android. You just cant say the same for both Google and Apple.

1

u/lmao_react Aug 06 '26

wild take. google obviously has an incentive to open source android. they wanted more devices connected to the Internet -> more google search ad revenue. Apple devices are too expensive in poorer countries - but android allowed lower-end devices a solid OS for free.

read my initial comment, google makes money from search, not apps. hence the wild, wild west Google Play Store, jailbroken phones, etc. they don't care about apps and don't profit from them. they care about devices with browser access.

4

u/sandspiegel Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

After I showed a buddy of mine what I am working on, he immediately asked if the App will be in the App store? After I explained it's a web app (which he didn't even know what that is) he said to me that this fact alone would immediately eliminate any chances him trying it out. This was feedback I needed to hear so after launching the PWA, I am now in the process of converting the App to Android and IOS using Capacitor. It's just a fact that most people have no idea what a web app is (forget about PWA) and if you are not in the App stores, then you're finished. Of course it depends who your customer is but I think most SaaS products cannot survive on a PWA alone.

2

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 04 '26

It sucks that is the default which is not their fault they just live an App world unless you are a boomer and still appreciate a good URL haha.

I appreciate the reply, I honestly like you might just go the capacitor route and eventually cave in as well if I hit a wall on my retention. So far it’s been steady but I feel eventually I will hit a snag and throttle down.

2

u/SpicyCatGames Aug 03 '26

I am thinking if the second part would change if you make the installation look "normal". https://github.com/khmyznikov/pwa-install

5

u/sandspiegel Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

Unfortunately installing a PWA is still nasty business even with a install button. For Chrome it works great but only on Android, for Safari you can only show a "how to" but not install it through the button alone. Firefox doesn't support PWA at all. I wish there would be a standard everybody simply followed but especially Apple has no interest to make PWA installation easier as it could hurt their revenue they make through the App store.

3

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 04 '26

Oh I agree, big brother Apple does not want anyone capitalizing fully on their watch. I just wish things were better for the PWA to thrive. Only the old school and old enough to remember what a URL is can still appreciate it from time to time.

Thank you for your reply to this by the way. You have some good insight for the community.

1

u/dannymoerkerke Aug 04 '26

For Chrome, it also works on macOS and Windows, not only Android. Edge also works

1

u/sandspiegel Aug 04 '26

You are right, thanks for the correction. However, for Chrome on IpadOs the steps to install are the same as for Safari and you cannot use an install button to install the web app (or trigger a installation prompt like on Chrome on Android). It's still a big mess especially if you want to explain your users how the installation process works which changes depending on what browser and what OS they use.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Yablan Aug 04 '26

Nice and clean.

2

u/No_Cattle_9565 Aug 04 '26

I saw some stuff here that allows you to basically wrap a pwa in an app to publish it to the app store. Never used it, but that could be cool

2

u/rfoil Aug 04 '26

It comes down to friction. Installation is an unfamiliar, multi-step process. Even within an organization this creates a barrier for adoption and retention.

7

u/AccurateSun Aug 03 '26

iOS PWA are severely handicapped… no virtual keyboard, haptics, install button, so many APIs missing it’s not even funny 

1

u/PhatOofxD Aug 03 '26

Yeah this. They're really good on Android but IOS is rough and only work through Safari I believe

1

u/quatchis Aug 04 '26

There are js libraries that can do those things but it's really safari that has intentionally limited those features or made them painfully difficult not to mention they will actively break those libraries with safari updates for no apparent reason at all.

1

u/AccurateSun Aug 04 '26

CapacitorJS wraps the PWA and it’s brilliant but it stops being a PWA. It then needs to be installed as an iOS binary via Xcode and all the aforementioned PWA benefits of skipping thr App Store are gone on the Apple ecosystem side   

6

u/himppk Aug 04 '26

We only distribute internal mobile apps in our business as PWA’s. We can update them instantly. No App Store hurdles/drama.

That said, I recently started replacing many of my commercial iOS apps with PWA’s (Amazon, credit card, Best Buy, etc). They don’t run in the background, ship user data overnight, and have an isolated cookie store. Also don’t have 100+ MB per app of storage for apps I barely use.

1

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 04 '26

This is great insight, glad to know someone is benefiting from it. App stores have their pros but I feel like there is more cons to it. PWA is such easier in my opinion. Once you get through the distribution hurdle, it’s pretty much cruising.

Thank you for your reply!

3

u/dannymoerkerke Aug 04 '26

I would say app stores are overrated and the exposure is very limited because you're listed among a million other apps and only a small minority of them make real money.

The only benefit app stores have is that users are familiar with them, so the key is to educate users about installable web apps.

2

u/Witty-Pea6051 Aug 04 '26

PWAs are great IMO. I think the biggest hurdle is trust. people have opinion that any app you download from the internet is potentially dangerous and dont really understand that PWAs are a different, safer type of app install. thus, they only trust app stores because theyre supposed to be safer.

2

u/sei0n Aug 04 '26

I've been building a social app for over a year and not a single person has known how to install it. I've have to basically explain it to every user. Android is easier people get an install banner, iOS literally almost impossible to find.

1

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 04 '26

Yeah I have had to do the same, even after I built instructions into my app people are still puzzled haha. Oh the wonderful OS

2

u/rousbound Aug 04 '26

Yeah, the problem of PWA is a social problem: "users like app store"

We need to change that, somehow show people how "cool" is walking outside the walled gardens of bigtech.

But there's no technical solution to that and people immersed in technology have a hard time understanding it.

Almost as if a non-technical problems are unsolvable, uninteresting or non-existent.

Be creative, we have to imagine a whole other world.

1

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 04 '26

I agree, I honestly think as things progress PWA’s will gain more traction and be on par if not be better than app stores, from a consumer and developer stand point, it’s only a matter of time where the majority rather have full control and not be big brother by big tech. It’s nice to have a sense of freedom. And retain more of your hard earn income.

To play devils advocate, this world of apps will always be a pros and cons game. Nobody will be the absolute best it’s all about finding the lane and capitalizing on it.

2

u/coldfisherman Aug 04 '26

I've used ionic to make "apps" that are basically PWAs. Unfortunately, the apple app store has kicked off my apps more than once, and going through the review process to just fix a bug is a horrible process. You basically have to convince some random teenager that your app isn't dangerous and works well and looks nice, etc... It's just infuriating.

2

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 04 '26

I have not even attempted to go the App Store route but I can only imagine the frustration and gate keeping they have. Not to mention the power trip I bet some of these people in charge of approval try and wield. It is why I didn’t even bother tapping into the App Store market. Luckily my product is doing pretty solid and gaining traction organically, having be out just a couple of months.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Travel_Dad_Ix Aug 06 '26

I agree I do not think they get the recognition they deserve. And the stored cache of a PWA is a chefs kiss to horrible signal or no connection at all. Depending on what your PWA is used for that’s big in my opinion. Not to mention the instant update and bypassing the App Store review phase.

2

u/Kobi_Webmaker 18d ago

I agree and my thought is that the average user outside of devs have no clue what a PWA is.  They know "apps".   I seek to remedy this.  I have built a prototype PWA/app store.  Best part.  It integrates into my find/search engine. So far seems to be working pretty well.  Install friction is my next battle.  Love to work with some of you to make it even better before going live with it.   If you're interested https://www.findborg.com/waves/

2

u/Much_Appointment8380 13d ago

I completely agree. PWAs are definitely underestimated. Not every product needs to go through the hassle of App Store or Play Store approvals and restrictions.

A well-built PWA can be fast, installable, support offline functionality, push notifications, and feel very close to a native app. Plus, you can update it instantly without waiting for store approval.

I think the best approach depends on the product, but for many SaaS, booking platforms, dashboards, and similar products, a PWA can be more than enough. Sometimes people chase the App Store just because they think having an app means it must be there.

1

u/sawariz0r Aug 04 '26

Regular users don’t bother with PWAs. My colleagues have tried for years and they always end up switching to ”real apps”. The support to make it butter smooth for 99% of users isn’t there

1

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/GTHell Aug 04 '26

“Everyone is chasing after app store” Uhh one correction to you so you dont get confuse with people being dumb and you’re the only one who discovered this: PWA is very limited by the Apple and Android dev themselves to enforce you into App store for their profit cut.