To me, you have to have a really damn good reason to start with an app. Distribution is hell.
Not a lot of people know you can add a website to the homescreen, either.
1. go to the app store 2. search for it and find the right one 3. make sure you have the right amount of space for it 4. download it 5. place it on the 5th screen of your phone 6. never see it
How is that easier? What if you want to sell your app?
Real scenario for native apps is much more simple: you get either the link to the app or the banner. Tap on it, tap get, tap open. That’s it.
Btw, there is an app offloading, which provides you space by getting rid of the app you don’t really use. And for the missing space argument to be even a little bit valid you must talk about huge apps, which probsbly means they provide functionality you could not replicate with a PWA.
1. Creating a good experience on Android and iOS
2. Getting approval to publish to the major app stores
3. Advertising to users so they actually download the app
4. Reminding users to use the app.
> now you have an icon that the user sees every day.
My home screen only has room for 24 items. Those items haven't changed much in a few years. I may have traded one app for another (e.g. Pocket Casts replaced Apple Podcasts), but that's about it. I don't look at the random Uniqlo app I downloaded to save 10% that one time every day. I don't look at the various restaurant apps every day.
I do have bookmarks in Chrome that I visit frequently. Why? I'm in Chrome for a significant part of the day.
And I think most users have more than one screen of apps at this point. And are more likely to see those icons than a given browser bookmark.