there's a big difference between typing a URL into a web browser & downloading an app:
1. go to the app store
2. search for it and find the right one
3. make sure you have the right amount of space for it
4. download it
5. place it on the 5th screen of your phone
6. never see it
You can invent the same convuted path for everything. Ok, for the PWA: go to Google. Find the pwa you want. Make sure you did not exceed your data cap. Figure out how to add it to home screen. It will end app at screen #5 and will never be found again.
How is that easier? What if you want to sell your app?
Real scenario for native apps is much more simple: you get either the link to the app or the banner. Tap on it, tap get, tap open. That’s it.
Btw, there is an app offloading, which provides you space by getting rid of the app you don’t really use. And for the missing space argument to be even a little bit valid you must talk about huge apps, which probsbly means they provide functionality you could not replicate with a PWA.
Show someone with an iPhone how to turn any website into a web app with one button in safari and their mind will be blown, yet the feature predates the App Store. No one knows how to do this outside of tech circles. Apple had it as a stop gap before the coming App Store, then promptly never mentioned again to cement the store as the only way to get additional utility from the phone; web apps are a vestigial feature.
1. go to the app store 2. search for it and find the right one 3. make sure you have the right amount of space for it 4. download it 5. place it on the 5th screen of your phone 6. never see it