Mobile app or PWA: does your business need an app?

Most websites, shops and booking services don’t need a separate app. A fast, mobile-friendly site, turned into a progressive web app (PWA), gives people most of the app feeling without the app store. You need a real app when people use you every week, or when you need the phone’s hardware.

Here’s how I see the two compare, the good and the not-so-good, and a few questions to help you decide.

First, what is a PWA?

A PWA is a website that can behave like an app. On web.dev, Google calls them app experiences “built and deployed on the web.” People can add it to their home screen, it opens full screen without the browser bar, and it can work offline and send notifications.

The nice part is that it’s still your website. One build works on iPhone, Android and desktop. There’s no store to submit to and no update for people to download. You change the site, and everyone has the new version the next time they open it.

A native app is the classic kind you download from the App Store or Google Play. It’s built for the phone itself, so it can use everything the phone has, from Bluetooth to the camera’s best features.

The honest truth: people don’t install apps for every shop

My test is simple. Think about the last time you bought something from a small online shop. Did you download its app first? Probably not. Most people won’t install an app for a business they’ve just found. It feels like a lot of commitment for one pair of shoes. Some people also don’t trust a random shop’s app with their phone, their data and their notifications.

Meanwhile, people already use the web on their phones all the time. In August 2026, StatCounter measured 49.36% of web traffic worldwide on mobile, slightly ahead of desktop. So your website is already the “app” most of your customers use. If it’s slow or awkward on a phone, that’s the first thing to fix.

I think of an app like a loyalty card. It’s great for the regulars who come back every week. But you wouldn’t ask every passer-by to sign up before they could walk in.

Native app vs PWA, side by side

Where each one wins, and where it trips over

PWA: the good bits

• One build for every device, so it costs less and stays in sync.
• No app store gatekeeper, review wait or commission.
• Google can find every page, which helps your SEO.
• Easy to “install” now. In iOS 26, when you add any site to the iPhone home screen, an “Open as Web App” option is on by default.

PWA: the catches

• There’s no install button on iPhone. People have to tap Share → Add to Home Screen, and many never will.
• On iPhone, notifications only work once the PWA is on the home screen. That makes your notification list much smaller.
• Some hardware is off limits on iPhone, like Bluetooth and NFC. Apple decides what Safari can do, and it moves slowly.
• You’re not in the App Store, so people searching there won’t find you.

Native app: the good bits

• The smoothest feel, with full access to the phone.
• Reliable notifications, which bring regulars back.
• A spot on the home screen and in the app stores, which builds trust for a known brand.
• The latest design systems, like Apple’s Liquid Glass look and Google’s Material 3, feel at home.

Native app: the catches

• It costs more to build and to keep updated, often for two platforms.
• Every update goes through store review.
• Apple takes a 15% or 30% commission on digital goods sold in the app. Physical products, like a shop’s stock, are not charged.
• The hardest part is getting people to install it at all.

Which one do you need?

1. Do most customers buy once or now and then? Start with a fast, mobile-friendly site. Add PWA features if people come back often.
2. Do people use you every week, like a café loyalty scheme, a gym booking or a delivery service? An app starts to make sense, because regulars will install it.
3. Do you need Bluetooth, NFC, background tracking or heavy offline work? That points to a native app.
4. Is your budget tight? I’d put it into the website first. A great mobile site beats a mediocre app every time.

For many businesses, I’d go in steps. Make the site fast and responsive, then turn it into a PWA, then build an app later if your regulars ask for it. Riksi’s own daily news works this way. You can add it to your home screen, and it opens like an app with recent editions saved for offline reading.

How Riksi can help

We do both sides, so we’ll recommend what fits rather than what costs the most.

• Responsive sites and PWAs. We make sites fast and easy to use on any screen, then add home-screen install, offline pages and notifications. See our web apps service.
• Native apps. We build iPhone and Android apps that follow the latest design guidance from Apple and Google, and that load fast. See our mobile apps service.

Not sure which you need? Tell us about your business and we’ll talk it through. Sometimes the best app is the website you already have, made better.