Considering the aspect of cross-platform nature, a native app by itself cannot be cross-platform as it is built for a single specific platform like Android, iOS, or Windows. We agree that there are different native cross-platform development tools like Xamarin, Flutter, Corona, PhoneGap, and so on.
With their help, you can develop natively compiled apps for mobile, web, and desktop. For example, it means that you can build an app for Android and then use Flutter or other analogs to compile the created solution and build another native app for iOS. So, you cannot use the same source code to develop an app for all the platforms.
Regarding the issue of updates, we mean that Progressive Web Apps receive updates automatically when the Internet connection is established. So users do not need to keep in mind this issue that greatly improves their user experience. In the case of native apps, users need to visit app stores and update their applications by hand. Surely, they can set up automatic updates but this action also requires additional actions from users.
Concerning the PWA installation promotion, we can agree with you that it is not seen as best practice. However, most users do not find it intuitive and obvious to install a PWA manually. The 'Add to Homescreen' prompt is used to simplify the process and provide users with the right of option. Furthermore, there are many ways extracting the PWA installation prompt from the apps' user flow. It allows not distracting customers from using the application.
And what's your experience with PWAs, as a user? Which one is your favourite? :)
Hi Abel,
Considering the aspect of cross-platform nature, a native app by itself cannot be cross-platform as it is built for a single specific platform like Android, iOS, or Windows. We agree that there are different native cross-platform development tools like Xamarin, Flutter, Corona, PhoneGap, and so on.
With their help, you can develop natively compiled apps for mobile, web, and desktop. For example, it means that you can build an app for Android and then use Flutter or other analogs to compile the created solution and build another native app for iOS. So, you cannot use the same source code to develop an app for all the platforms.
Regarding the issue of updates, we mean that Progressive Web Apps receive updates automatically when the Internet connection is established. So users do not need to keep in mind this issue that greatly improves their user experience. In the case of native apps, users need to visit app stores and update their applications by hand. Surely, they can set up automatic updates but this action also requires additional actions from users.
Concerning the PWA installation promotion, we can agree with you that it is not seen as best practice. However, most users do not find it intuitive and obvious to install a PWA manually. The 'Add to Homescreen' prompt is used to simplify the process and provide users with the right of option. Furthermore, there are many ways extracting the PWA installation prompt from the apps' user flow. It allows not distracting customers from using the application.
And what's your experience with PWAs, as a user? Which one is your favourite? :)
Hi again,
I thank you so much for your time to comment again.
I am not sure I understand this:
The slogan for the most cross-platform toolkit is:
My experience for cross-platform dev is that I use the same source code and I use the right tool to build for every platform.
I don't have much experience as a user with PWAs so I have no favourite right now.