I dont agree with the author. Yes, they introduced app clips but along with that for the first time they are allowing users to change their default browser. User can set to Chrome and chrome has the first class support for pwa. Also, these app clips is Apple's answer to Android instant apps rather than pwa.
Chrome on iOS (and all other browsers on iOS) are skinned versions of Safari, so they have the same restrictions, so you don't have the same support for PWAs as Chrome on Android does.
App Clips are similar to instant apps, but the use cases are different, as App Clips are designed to be interacted with through NFC or QR, e.g. unlocking a rental scooter. On Android the default action of NFC is to open a browser not an app, so they don't quite have the same user flow, but this is where PWAs come into the question as I believe Google won't make something like App Clips because the web can do what App Clips are being aimed at.
PWAs were not primarily built for being launched by QR, NFC etc. These were built to get native app like capabilities like offline support, notifications, full screen app experience, consistent UI on all platforms, auto-updates, small package size etc.
I'm not sure but will app clips work offline? Will these be available in my app drawer so that I can conveniently open them when I needed? will it notify me in realtime? can I access these app clips on other platforms? if answers are yes only then we can say app clips are equivalent to pwa.
Also QR (and possibly NFC) is not platform specific and can be programmed to open any app, pwa, copying email address, hack even connecting to wifi now.
App Clips are focused bits of functionality, not full apps, they are designed to get you to download the full app in the long run. The scooter rental is a prime example, if I visit Venice beach I could use my phone to scan a scooter and rent it without having to download the app, why is this useful? I am from the UK, theres no point in installing the app to only use for the day. However if I lived in LA I might download the app as I might use it fairly often. Like wise with a PWA if you open it from NFC/QR/some other thing, I would have the option to add it to my home screen, but once added it acts like an application.
It isn't about the apps themselves but the user flow of getting interaction from a user, and possible retention from a quick action like scanning a QR code. Yes they can be programmed to do those things, however you can't get them to open an instant app, you can get them to open a preinstalled app, but that is assuming users have that app installed which would cause friction is most cases. This is where App Clips & websites/pwas come in. As they open in the same way, with a url, if a website has a meta tag for an App Clip it will open on an iPhone, on Android it will open the website. Like I said before this works well to take a potential interaction and could lead to retention from a user.
Your missing the point... a PWA is an application that you downloaded... instead of the browser reading JavaScript from a web server, it reads a pre compiled web assembly... aka, an application. Granted this web assembly could have been created from JavaScript code originally...
I dont agree with the author. Yes, they introduced app clips but along with that for the first time they are allowing users to change their default browser. User can set to Chrome and chrome has the first class support for pwa. Also, these app clips is Apple's answer to Android instant apps rather than pwa.
Chrome on iOS (and all other browsers on iOS) are skinned versions of Safari, so they have the same restrictions, so you don't have the same support for PWAs as Chrome on Android does.
App Clips are similar to instant apps, but the use cases are different, as App Clips are designed to be interacted with through NFC or QR, e.g. unlocking a rental scooter. On Android the default action of NFC is to open a browser not an app, so they don't quite have the same user flow, but this is where PWAs come into the question as I believe Google won't make something like App Clips because the web can do what App Clips are being aimed at.
PWAs were not primarily built for being launched by QR, NFC etc. These were built to get native app like capabilities like offline support, notifications, full screen app experience, consistent UI on all platforms, auto-updates, small package size etc.
I'm not sure but will app clips work offline? Will these be available in my app drawer so that I can conveniently open them when I needed? will it notify me in realtime? can I access these app clips on other platforms? if answers are yes only then we can say app clips are equivalent to pwa.
Also QR (and possibly NFC) is not platform specific and can be programmed to open any app, pwa, copying email address, hack even connecting to wifi now.
App Clips are focused bits of functionality, not full apps, they are designed to get you to download the full app in the long run. The scooter rental is a prime example, if I visit Venice beach I could use my phone to scan a scooter and rent it without having to download the app, why is this useful? I am from the UK, theres no point in installing the app to only use for the day. However if I lived in LA I might download the app as I might use it fairly often. Like wise with a PWA if you open it from NFC/QR/some other thing, I would have the option to add it to my home screen, but once added it acts like an application.
It isn't about the apps themselves but the user flow of getting interaction from a user, and possible retention from a quick action like scanning a QR code. Yes they can be programmed to do those things, however you can't get them to open an instant app, you can get them to open a preinstalled app, but that is assuming users have that app installed which would cause friction is most cases. This is where App Clips & websites/pwas come in. As they open in the same way, with a url, if a website has a meta tag for an App Clip it will open on an iPhone, on Android it will open the website. Like I said before this works well to take a potential interaction and could lead to retention from a user.
Your missing the point... a PWA is an application that you downloaded... instead of the browser reading JavaScript from a web server, it reads a pre compiled web assembly... aka, an application. Granted this web assembly could have been created from JavaScript code originally...
PWAs aren't web assembly (they can be, but don't have to be), the definition isn't straight forward. But this is a good resource web.dev/pwa-checklist