When Will The Web Replace Native Mobile Apps? (Part II)
Where does mobile web currently fall short and what innovation is on the horizon that will allow it to succeed?
In Part I, I looked at why apps have been necessary on mobile devices — despite Apple’s original vision of iPhone apps being powered by web technology — and I looked at the current state of PWA capabilities for each mobile platform.
Now I want to look at why I won’t yet advocate web technology in place of mobile apps, for most use cases, and the innovations I predict will change that opinion in years to come.
Current limitations of PWAs
There are a number of reasons why PWAs aren’t yet ready to replace native mobile apps.
One overarching reason is the unwillingness of Apple to support PWAs to their fullest.
It’s funny to watch Steve Jobs’ original announcement. Now it seems Apple is actively trying to stunt the progress of web technology by preventing access to hardware and not supporting notifications.
This is an important consideration. iOS has 26% market share worldwide, but it’s over 50% in North America and many European countries, some of the largest app-revenue regions. A lot of users will suffer if you develop a PWA that lacks functionality due to Apple’s restrictions.
Below are additional considerations that may make a PWA unsuitable for some types of app, regardless of the operating system they run on:
- Limited device integration
- Limitations of data storage and cache
- Restricted background functionality
- Impact on user interface
- App sales and in-app purchases not possible
- Lack of watch, widget or peripheral integration
Let’s dive into a bit more detail on each of the considerations above.
1. Limited device integration
It’s not only iOS that restricts hardware and OS integration. The web is always playing catch up to device hardware. Google promotes the development of PWAs, but, given the large number of device manufacturers, it’s not always the case that the hardware, OS and website play nicely together.
There are still features that a web app can’t access even on Android. NFC, biometrics, geo-fencing are a few. Access to some OS features such as composing messages is also unavailable, although support in this area is evolving rapidly.
2. Limitations of data storage and cache
Like all aspects of PWAs, data storage and caching are handled differently per browser and are restricted to a percentage of device capacity, which makes them difficult to rely on. Most browsers allow enough data to be stored for the majority of use cases (e.g. up to 5GB on 128GB device), but Safari places stricter limits. Up to ~500MB of database storage is allowed, but cache is limited to ~50MB. Both may be cleared by iOS at any point, so must be treated as a temporary and not relied upon.
For developers to rely on PWAs to provide the best user experience, they need to know they can rely on data storage when needed. This is particularly important for apps that download and store locally lots of large files, such as images, videos, audio or PDFs.
Furthermore, I think the offline ability of a PWA is a gimmick. Even most native apps require an internet connection to offer much value, and promising your users offline availability will only lead to disappointment when they discover parts of the app that are not cached.
3. Restricted background functionality
Chrome allows PWAs to wake up in the background to carry out network activity and processing. However, other browsers do not support background processing and even on Android with Chrome, background functionality is not as extensive as it is for native apps.
For example, accessing the user’s location is not supported in the background.
Maintaining Bluetooth connections is not possible in the background (or even between page loads), regardless of operating system or browser.
Voice-over-IP does not integrate with the incoming call facility like it does for native apps.
iOS prevents any background processing at all. This means local notifications aren’t supported, background audio is not supported, and background network activity and other processing is not possible.
4. Impact on user interface
There remains an issue of responsiveness of web vs. non-web. By non-web, I mean native apps and apps developed using other cross-platform technologies beside web. And by responsiveness, I mean the speed with which you feel the result of any interaction.
Delays might be seen when reloading previous screens (pages) when navigating back, or controls might become unresponsive at times. Animated transitions, which are often used to maintain orientation within context, are not as prevalent or are jerky in web apps.
All new “screens” (or “views”) are loaded in place and standard browser forward/back navigation is supported. However other app navigation techniques, such as modal presentations/overlays, are not supported in the same way as they are by native apps. (Although, admittedly, this is the web, so anything is technically possible.)
5. App sales and in-app purchases not possible
A big one is monetisation. App Store distribution, whether on iOS or Android, has given developers an easy way to make money from paid apps and in-app purchases. Users already have an account setup that removes the friction of paying a developer for their software. They can easily pay for an app at point of download, or later to unlock premium functionality.
Paying for a digital product on the web is not so straightforward. It requires a developer to implement their own payment mechanism, albeit through a third party. It will also most likely require some sign up process to verify in the future that a user has paid. Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store handle all of that, making it simple for the developer and the consumer.
This will be a major blocker for businesses that make money directly from the software (rather than using their software as a platform for the sale of physical goods).
6. Lack of watch, widget or peripheral integration
It’s not currently possible to provide an Android widget as part of a PWA and, as you might expect, the same is true for iOS. It’s also not possible for a PWA running on iOS to interact with the Apple Watch, nor can a PWA running on Android interact with an Android Wear app. Because Bluetooth connections cannot be maintained in the background, it’s also difficult to work with third-party devices from PWAs.
If integration with watches, providing widgets, or possibly integrating with other devices (think: eyewear or in-home technology) is part of your user experience, then a PWA will not be suitable at this time.
Innovation guaranteed
PWAs have only been around for five years and already they are closing the gap on native app capabilities.
A lot is guaranteed to change in the next few years.
PWAs will become more powerful and iOS will catch up, to some extent, or lose out.
Here’s a few of the innovations that I predict will make web apps a truly viable alternative to native mobile apps.
1. 5G will void the issue of storage
Already, the ability of apps to store large amounts of data locally is becoming redundant. Most document or media apps rely on cloud storage anyway. For example, the thousands of photos and videos on my phone aren’t actually stored on my phone.
The availability of 5G will mean it’s even less necessary to ever store files locally, because to access them remotely will be just as fast. It’s also much easier to increase remote storage capacity when you need it, than to increase the storage capacity of your phone (i.e. buy a new phone).
There are cases when local storage is still desirable, such as for downloading music or movies for a flight. But the next decade could easily see free, fast Wi-fi on all flights and in other areas where cellular internet is not available.
2. Games will all be cloud-based
It might seem like high-end games would always be distributed as apps rather than as websites. But already we’re seeing streaming services for games that compete with downloaded and installed equivalents. Google’s Stadia is one platform that streams games in 4K at 60FPS, with no game download required.
The further benefit of cloud gaming is that users don’t need powerful devices. They just need a high speed internet connection. The web is used extensively for streaming videos so lends itself perfectly to streaming games that would otherwise be distributed as apps.
3. Access to hardware and OS features will be unrestricted
Google and Microsoft actively promote PWA development and the evolution of PWA capabilities. So it seems logical that standards will emerge for web APIs to provide deeper hardware and OS integration. iOS will of course lag behind, but there will be pressure on Apple to play catch-up — to find ways of loosening restrictions while still maintaining the user privacy Apple prides itself upon.
Interestingly, iOS Safari AutoFill is one feature that has advanced for the web quicker than for apps. Website developers can tag elements for password or payment card entry and Safari will auto-populate. Password AutoFill was extended to apps as of iOS 12 (2018), but automatically filling payment card details is not currently available to apps.
4. User interface will become as fluid as native apps
This is possibly the most obvious, but arguably the most contentious. A lot of native ambassadors will argue that a web experience will never be on par with that or a native app.
But if you look at advancements in web technology since the birth of the iPhone, combined with increased OS support bringing PWAs closer to a native look and feel, one could argue that it’s inevitable that web apps will eventually be indistinguishable from native apps in terms of user interface.
5. Distribution and payment will be streamlined
The Google Play Store already supports the distribution of PWAs, although not paid-for. Given Apple’s original vision for iPhone apps to be web apps, it would be nice to think that one day the App Store might distribute PWAs.
However, consider a trusted third party getting in on the action.
Imagine a single, platform-independent store that would allow you to browse and discover apps.
This store could provide its own authentication and user management, allowing developers to integrate an in-app purchase service. This could make the need for paid-for apps redundant. (Paid-for apps are increasingly less common already, in favour of the freemium model.)
This would render Apple’s and Google’s in-app purchase services unnecessary, but still provide users with piece of mind and security.
But if a third party was to offer such a service, it would require global clout to be worthy of implementation by developers and trust amongst end users. Did someone say Microsoft?
These are only predictions. Nothing is guaranteed, except, of course, progress. There will be progress in this area, and I think it’s fair to assume many of these advancements will happen in the next five years.
Closing thoughts
What would be the downsides of PWAs taking over? Security, perhaps? Can PWAs ever be as secure as native apps? Where there’s a will, there’s a way. It will take mounting pressure on the folk at Apple to find ways to give permissions to web apps while protecting the privacy and security of users, which is what they pride themselves on.
App reviews by Apple (and whatever reviews Google carries out) are a good thing for users. A store with no reviews of quality or user protection could be detrimental.
However, if Apple is policing its store, who polices the police?
Apple breaks its own rules time and time again to suit itself and manipulates users into costly monthly subscriptions, something it prides itself upon for preventing third-party developers from doing.
Instead of stores limited to each operating system, we could see a platform-independent, global store of web apps. It could never be policed in the same way that Apple currently polices its store. But is Apple really doing a good enough job anyway?
This hypothetical store could allow apps to become “certified” so that users know such apps can be trusted. Along the lines of Twitter’s verified accounts.
This is still open to fraud, as we saw from the UK’s Conservative party in 2019, but if policed in the right way, and with users reporting misuse, app developers would be penalised accordingly for breaking the rules.
There will, of course, still be non-web apps, but they’ll become the minority, just as they are on desktop. For instance, there’s no desktop app for YouTube or for Google Maps, or for Medium, where I’m writing this article.
Instead, people are happy using the respective web apps. If such apps were to appear for desktop, it would make sense for them to be PWA versions of the existing websites that people are happy with.
The web will eventually rule on mobile, just as it does on desktop. It’s just a matter of time.
