Hah. Maybe when nearly every app doesn't have a dozen trackers pinging off before the app has even opened you can talk.
From my perspective many apps are single tab browsers with additional spying capabilities.
As a developer, I also prefer writing native apps (iOS and Swift), but I certainly understand the occasional disadvantages here too. This is in fact why I'm also developing a Flutter app at the moment - we needed a cross platform MVP but there's too little time and resources to develop for both platforms. But given enough time and resources (e.g. post MVP) I'd mostly go native.
Really? I can't recall ever finding a useful app through the app store. It's so littered with junk apps and deceptive copycats that discovery is a miserable experience.
Check out Things 3, Overcast, or Timepage (and Actions) by Moleskine. You don’t recall EVER finding a useful app?
I have found useful apps through a store, but it does often involve sifting through a lot of misleading junk.
The comment that sparked this whole thread was "The major advantage of the App Store (primarily for consumer apps though) is the fact that there's some kind of filtering at place". I don't think that's true - I think that the app stores are so littered with junk and offer so little curation that finding something on an app store is a fool's errand.
From a developer's perspective, I don't think that a native app offers any advantages in terms of discoverability or onboarding. The app stores are full of polished, well-designed apps with incredibly low download counts. A native app might be stickier than a web app, it might offer a better user experience in some cases, but installation presents a natural obstacle to previewing and sharing. I think that developing for the web should be the default choice unless you have a compelling justification for going native.
I remember trying to get people to download an app I made in college and it was pretty hard, even when the app would show up #1 in the app store results after searching the name. Website would have been smarter, but an email list serv would have been the best bet to get that strong user base.
Once you have the user base, then publish the mobile app. I just don't recommend starting out with it until you've proven the concept and have loyal users
That's a big If. You're also under the assumption that the App is able to do something that cannot be done via a website. The sell is that the App offers a better experience to the user, often (e.g. reddit) that's only because they've nerfed the mobile website intentionally. The truth however is that an installed App gives them more opportunities to monetize you.
Whenever someone says to me "you should check out <snapgrambookspacenow>" I visit the website, if that website doesn't work on the desktop or directs me to download an App then I close the tab and forget it ever existed.