Web app or app store app: how to choose

If people use your app now and then and reach it through a link or a Google search, an installable web app is usually enough. If you need notifications on iPhone, deeper access to the phone, or a spot in the App Store and Google Play, go with a store app. Plenty of projects start on the web and move into the stores once there's a clear reason.

What each one is

A progressive web app (PWA) is a website built to behave like an app. Google describes it as a web app that reaches anyone, on any device, from a single codebase. It can be installed on the home screen, opens in its own window without the browser bar, and can work offline if it's built for that.

A store app is downloaded from the App Store (iPhone, iPad) or Google Play (Android). It goes through each store's rules and review, and updates come through the store too.

For the user, the difference shows up in three places: how they find it, how they install it, and what it can do on their phone.

Where the web app wins

• One codebase for everything. The same app runs on Android, iPhone and desktop. You're not maintaining two or three versions.
• No store review. When you fix a bug, you push it to the server and everyone gets the new version the next time they open it. You don't wait for anyone's approval.
• A link is enough. Customers open the link from a text, an email or a QR code and use the app right away. Nobody asks them to download anything or sign in to a store.
• No developer accounts. You don't need an Apple membership or a Google Play account to publish.

It works well for bookings, ordering at the table, catalogs, field forms and internal dashboards: things people use when they need them, not every day.

Where the store app wins

• Notifications on iPhone. Right now, Safari on iPhone doesn't receive push notifications from web apps. On Android, in Chrome, web notifications work. If your business runs on "your order is ready" or "you have an appointment tomorrow," and half your customers have iPhones, that alone can decide it.
• Being in the store. Some people look there first. A listing in the App Store or Google Play, with screenshots and reviews, builds trust.
• Deeper access to the phone. Background work, sensors, integration with other apps. A lot of this is possible from the browser, but not all of it, and not the same everywhere.

What the stores require

Three things worth knowing from the start:

1. Accounts. Apple requires an annual Apple Developer Program membership to publish on the App Store. Google Play charges a one-time registration fee for a developer account.
2. Apple's review doesn't accept wrapped websites. Guideline 4.2 says an app needs features and content that lift it above a repackaged website. An app that just opens your site in a window risks rejection.
3. Digital payments. Guideline 3.1.1 requires that unlocking features or digital content inside the app (subscriptions, premium access) goes through Apple's in-app purchase system. Physical goods follow different rules, but check before you plan how you'll get paid.

The questions that decide it

What drives the cost: how many platforms it runs on, how many features it has (payments, notifications, offline mode, maps), whether it needs an admin panel, and who maintains it after launch. A store app also needs the updates that new Android and iOS versions call for.

Our app studio services page shows how we work on each option.