Well, for starters, UIKit apps are faster and better on battery than web apps. Then we add a bunch of APIs that are just not available to a web app:
- Core Bluetooth
- Core NFC
- Periodic synchronization
- Background upload/download
- Background location tracking (in some cases, it's a plus, though)
- Nearby Interaction
- Anything USB
- No widgets
- No HomeKit integration
- No share extension
- No Live Activities or Dynamic Island content
The list is honestly too long.
To be clear, I do wish that Apple was less hostile towards PWAs and developers were better at making PWAs. Until recently, you couldn't even send a push notification from PWA.
To me the major distinctions are near full functionality even if I'm offline and the app hasn't been used in a long time and offline-first design with all major assets being available for download ahead of time and/or transferable between devices without re-downloading
Sure, but when it is for things like "reimbursements, documentation and reporting, gathering and presenting business data. That sort of thing.", I'm not really sure offline is that big a requirement, or that there are that many major assets. Even so, your mobile browser should be able to cache CSS and hero images.
