I can give some answer: because web pages were artificially throttled on devices (at least iPhone) and mobile applications were promoted with endless stream of

I can give some answer: because web pages were artificially throttled on devices (at least iPhone) and mobile applications were promoted with endless stream of money from central banks - if you took any kind of IT subsidy (at least EU) you needed to make mobile app obligatory. Mobile app is much better for malicious and hidden functionality of the app - that's why the transition was needed. Cheers!