Difference between a progressive web app and a hybrid mobile app

Question

Can someone tell me the differences between a Hybrid Mobile App and a Progressive Web App and their advantages?

Answer 1

Progressive Web Apps: Until recently mobile web apps lacked a lot of the functionality of native mobile apps like the ability to send push notifications, work offline, and load on the homescreen, but there have been a few improvements to browsers and web apps that offer these features. Apps that take advantage of these features are called progressive web apps.

Are progressive web apps the way to go? It depends what your goal is. They only work on Google Chrome which is fairly limiting. If your goal is to cover an audience on Android and iOS, then progressive web apps are probably not for you. In that sense, they are not a substitute for a mobile app but they can be a way to quickly get a mobile-app-like web app into people’s hands. If you were considering converting your web app into a progressive web app, consider instead using a solution like Canvas to make your web app into a mobile app. It’s really easy!

Web app: web app “is an application that is accessed via a web browser over a network such as the Internet.” So how is this different than a web site?

The difference is subjective, but most would agree that a web site will generally just be informational and a web app provides functionality. For example, Wikipedia is a website; it provides information. Facebook is a web app.

Don’t let the word “app” confuse you though. Web apps don’t need to be downloaded like mobile apps do. Web apps load in browsers like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox and they don’t take up any memory or storage on the user’s device.

How are they built? The vast majority are built in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5. Unlike a mobile iOS or Android app, there is no software development kit (SDK) for a developer to work with. There are templates and frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue.js you can use to get a quick start. As opposed to mobile apps, developing a web app can be simple and quick, however, their simplicity is also their downside. It’s often a good way to test out an idea before investing in a mobile app.

Hybrid App: If a native app and a web app got married and had a kid, it would be a hybrid app. You install it like a native app but it’s actually a web app on the inside. Hybrid apps, like web apps, are built with Javascript, HTML, and CSS and run in something called Webview, a simplified browser within your app.

Why should you consider hybrid? Say you have an idea for an app and you don’t know if people will like it or not. Your goal is to put something usable into their hands as quickly as possible. In the startup world, this is called an MVP, or minimum viable product. You’re short on resources so you need to create the a simple version of your product that still provides value. Building a web app might be the truly minimal option, but won’t really allow you to test whether people will download and use an app on their device.

Refrence: https://www.mobiloud.com/blog/native-web-or-hybrid-apps/