PWA (Progressive Web Apps): Do You Really Need to Be in the App Store? (The Uncomfortable Truth of Mobile Development)

PWA vs Native

In the world of Startups and corporate innovation, there is a dangerous fetish: “We need to have our App in the store.” It seems that if your logo isn’t on the App Store or Google Play, your business doesn’t exist.

However, for 90% of businesses launching or validating a product, building a native application from day one is a financial and strategic mistake.

Development costs double (one code for iOS, another for Android), Apple’s approval times are a bureaucratic nightmare, and worse: convincing a user to download a 100MB app to use it just once is getting harder every day.

There is an alternative that combines the best of the web with the best of apps: Progressive Web Apps (PWA). At Koud, we help companies launch agile, profitable digital products without intermediaries.

What is a PWA and Why Does It Threaten the Stores?

A Progressive Web App is, in essence, a website with superpowers. It uses modern web technologies to behave, look, and feel like a native application, but it lives in the browser.

When a user visits your PWA from their phone, they can:

1. Install it: Add an icon to their home screen (without going to the App Store).
2. Work Offline: Load content even without internet (thanks to what are Progressive Web Apps principles and Service Workers).
3. Send Push Notifications: Alert the user about offers or messages.
4. Access Hardware: Use the camera, geolocation, and in some cases, biometrics.

For the end user, the experience is indistinguishable from a native app. For your business, the difference in cost and control is abysmal.

PWA vs Native: The Battle of Costs and Friction

When comparing PWA vs Native, the decision usually comes down to budget and speed.

1. Development Cost (The Two-Code Tax)

• Native: You need a Swift developer (iOS) and a Kotlin developer (Android), or a React Native expert. You maintain two codebases. Every change must be replicated in both.
• PWA: A single codebase (Web: HTML, CSS, JS/React) that works on iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac. Estimated savings: 40-60%.

2. Distribution Friction (The Funnel of Death)

In a native app, the user must: See ad -> Go to Store -> Enter password -> Wait for download -> Open. At each step, you lose 20% of users.

In a PWA, the user: Clicks the link -> Is already using the app. Friction is almost zero.

3. The “Apple Tax” (30% Commission)

If you sell digital services through a native app, Apple and Google keep 15% or 30% of your sales. With a PWA, you process your payments with Stripe or PayPal directly on the web, keeping 100% of your margin (minus the gateway fee, of course, which is much lower).

When Do You REALLY Need a Native App?

We are not anti-native. At Koud, we develop amazing native apps, but we recommend them only when strictly necessary.

You need native if:

• Your app is a game with complex 3D graphics (Unity/Unreal).
• You need deep hardware access (complex Bluetooth for IoT, ARKit for Augmented Reality).
• Your business model depends on ranking in the App Store to be discovered.

For everything else (E-commerce, B2B, SaaS, Management, News), a PWA is superior.

Global Success Stories

Major players have migrated to PWA with impressive results:

• Twitter Lite: Reduced data consumption by 70% and increased pages per session.
• Starbucks: Their PWA weighs 99% less than their iOS app, allowing users on slow networks to place orders.
• Pinterest: Increased user time spent by 40% upon switching to PWA.

Checklist: Is a PWA for You?

• Do you have a limited budget to launch your MVP?
• Do you need to iterate and update your product daily without waiting for Apple’s approval (which takes days)?
• Do your users have mid/low-range devices with little storage space?
• Do you want to avoid the 30% commission from app stores?

If you checked more than two, welcome to the world of mobile web app development.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do PWAs work on iPhone (iOS)?

Yes, but with nuances. Apple supports PWAs but limits some functions (like Push notifications on older iOS versions) to protect its App Store business. However, since iOS 16.4, support has improved drastically, allowing web push notifications.

Can I upload a PWA to the stores if I want to?

Yes! Using tools like TWA (Trusted Web Activities), you can “package” your PWA and upload it to the Google Play Store. For Apple, it is more complex but possible with “wrappers.” This gives you the best of both worlds.

Is it secure?

Absolutely. PWAs must be served mandatorily under HTTPS, guaranteeing that the connection between the user and your server is encrypted and has not been tampered with.

Conclusion

The question is not “How do I get into the App Store?”, but “How do I reach my users with the least possible friction?”.

A PWA allows you to launch fast, fail cheap, and scale without asking permission from Silicon Valley.

At Koud, we build robust PWAs that defy the distinction between web and app.