Most business apps do not need the app store. A PWA, or progressive web app, is a website that installs to the home screen, works offline, and can send notifications, from one codebase with no store review. A native app is still required for deep hardware access, heavy graphics, or when customers expect to find you in the store.
When someone tells us they need an app, we ask what it has to do before we ask which phones it has to run on. Often the answer is a list of things a browser has been able to do for years.
Reps is our own proof. It is a training log for sets, meals, and bodyweight, built as an installable web app. It installs to the phone from the browser and works in a gym basement with no signal, syncing when you walk out. No app store is involved.
That will not suit every product. Here is how to tell which side of the line yours is on.
What is a PWA?
A PWA, or progressive web app, is a website built so that it can be installed on a device and behave like an app. It gets a home screen icon, opens in its own window without browser controls, can work offline, and can send push notifications where the platform allows.
Three parts make a website a PWA. A manifest file tells the device the app's name, icon, and colors. A service worker, which is a script the browser runs in the background, stores the app's files so it opens without a connection. And the site is served over HTTPS, which browsers require for both.
Underneath, it is still a web app. The same code runs on a phone, a tablet, and a desktop.
PWA vs native app: how do they compare?
A PWA is built once and runs anywhere there is a modern browser, with updates that go live when you deploy. A native app is built for each platform, distributed through that platform's store, and has fuller access to the device. PWAs win on cost and speed, native apps on capability.
| PWA | Native app | |
|---|---|---|
| Codebase | One, for every device | Usually one per platform, or a cross-platform framework |
| How users get it | Visit a link, then install from the browser | Download from an app store |
| Store review | None | Required for each release |
| Updates | Live when you deploy | Shipped through the store, installed by the user |
| Works offline | Yes, if built for it | Yes |
| Push notifications | Yes, with some platform limits | Yes |
| Device access | Camera, location, and more, through the browser | Full access to hardware and system features |
| Found through | Search engines and links | Store search and links |
| Store fees on digital sales | None | Set by each store |
The row people underrate is updates. With a web app, a fix deployed at noon is in front of every user at noon. With a store release, it waits for review and then for each user's phone to install it.
What can a PWA do today?
A PWA can install to the home screen, run full screen, work offline, store data on the device, send push notifications, and use the camera, microphone, and location with the user's permission. For logging, booking, ordering, dashboards, and most business tools, that covers everything required.
Reps uses the offline part hardest. It writes each entry to the device first and syncs in the background, so it never shows a spinner between sets. We describe that design in offline-first web apps.
Notifications work too, with one catch worth knowing: on iPhone, a web app can only send push notifications after the user has added it to the home screen. We cover the mechanics in web push notifications explained.
Sometimes no app of any kind is the answer. Regulars, our loyalty product for shops, reaches customers through a card in the phone's wallet and messages on the lock screen. The channel that fits the customer matters more than the label on the technology.
When do you still need a native app?
You still need a native app when the product depends on hardware or system features the browser does not expose, when it needs sustained high-performance graphics, when it must run substantial work in the background, or when your customers will only look for you in an app store.
Specific cases where we would recommend native:
- Deep device integration. Bluetooth accessories, health sensors, home screen widgets, and similar system features are limited or missing in browsers, and support differs between platforms.
- Demanding graphics or processing. Games and heavy media editing generally run better as native code.
- Background work. An app that must track or process continuously while closed needs native capabilities.
- Store presence as marketing. If your audience searches the store first, or a store listing signals legitimacy in your market, being absent has a cost.
- In-store purchases. If the business model relies on the store's own billing and subscriptions, you need to be in the store.
Browser capabilities change, so check current support for any specific feature before deciding. This list is where things stand in general, not a permanent rule.
How do you decide between a PWA and a native app?
Decide by listing what the app must do, then checking each item against what a browser supports on the phones your users carry. If everything is supported, build the PWA. If one must-have feature is not, that feature decides it, and you build native.
- Write down the must-have features, not the nice-to-haves.
- Mark any that need hardware or system access beyond camera, location, storage, and notifications.
- Check browser support for each marked item on both major phone platforms.
- Ask how users will find it. A link, a QR code, or a search result favors a PWA. Store search favors native.
- Ask how often it will change. Frequent updates favor the web.
- Compare the budget for one codebase against two.
If the result is close, start with the PWA. It is the cheaper experiment, it works on every device at once, and what you learn from real users carries over if you build native later. That is the same reasoning as starting with an MVP.
Frequently asked questions
Do PWAs work on iPhone?
Yes. On iPhone a PWA is installed from the browser's share menu using Add to Home Screen. It then opens full screen with its own icon. Some features are more limited than on Android, and push notifications require that the app be installed first.
Can a PWA be listed in an app store?
In some cases. A web app can be wrapped in a thin native shell and submitted, and each store has its own rules on what it accepts. Check the current store guidelines before planning around this, because a wrapped site can be rejected.
Is a PWA cheaper to build than a native app?
Generally yes, because one codebase serves every device and there is no store submission process. The gap narrows if the product needs features that browsers handle poorly, since working around those limits takes time.
Will users know how to install a PWA?
Many will not without a prompt. Installing from a browser is less familiar than a store download, so a good PWA shows a short, well-timed instruction. It also works without being installed, which a native app cannot do.
Can a PWA become a native app later?
Yes. The server, the database, and the business rules all stay as they are. Only the interface on the phone is rebuilt, which makes the web version a reasonable first step.
If you are weighing the two, tell us what the app has to do and we will tell you whether a browser can do it.