App form factor check: PWA, web app or store app?
Six questions on users, device features, store presence, purchases, offline use and notifications. The result recommends a form factor and explains why.
Recommendation
Answer the questions; the recommendation appears here.
A first assessment, not a substitute for a concept. Your answers stay in your browser.
How the recommendation is made
Most business applications can be built as a web app or progressive web app: from one codebase, without store review and with lower running costs. A store app becomes necessary when the app reaches deep into device features, sells digital content through the stores or the audience looks for it only in the store.
We build web apps and PWAs ourselves and no native apps. Our recommendation is therefore not shaped by our own utilisation; when a store app is needed, we take on requirements and project leadership.
Further reading
- Progressive web app: what a PWA can do and where its limits are
- Trusted Web Activity: publishing a PWA on Google Play
- PWA or native app: the detailed decision guide
- Commissioning an app: guide to form factor, process and mistakes
- App concept: clarity before development
Frequently asked questions
Can a PWA send push notifications on iPhone?
Yes, since iOS 16.4, when the PWA is installed on the home screen and the user allows notifications.
Can a PWA go into the App Store?
Into Google Play via a Trusted Web Activity. Apple’s App Store requires a native wrapper with additional app functionality.
What if the recommendation is a store app?
Then we take on the requirements catalogue, partner selection and project leadership; native development is done by a specialised partner.