There is nothing to install; it will be available anywhere and work on any device, Except the web browser, and a "full-featured" web browser is more complex to

There is nothing to install; it will be available anywhere and work on any device, Except the web browser, and a "full-featured" web browser is more complex to implement than some entire operating systems. it's probably more secure There is no such thing as 'probably secure.' And while after herculean effort the browser projects (which nowadays can be counted on the fingers of one hand, even if you're missing a finger or two) might be making the code more secure, the industry as a whole has been busily creating a minefield for twenty years in which users are supposed to type personal information into some sites, but not others, with no workable system to decide which sites are trustworthy. (If facebook started using self-signing keys, do you really think it would hurt usage in a more than single-digit percentage?) you can publish whatever content you want without having to get prior approval; you can update whenever you like without having to wait for acceptance. Also true for apps, or as they've been known in the past, "programs." WebGL is now available on pretty much every mobile OS except iOS and opengl is available even there, and you don't have to choose a specific browser to use it anywhere. I think in the long run that the mobile web and native apps will have approximately the same capabilities for the majority of use cases I agree with you, but only because native apps all embed browser cores, and are largely repackaged websites munged to work partially on-device. For me, the main point is the web has always been an open platform you can do what you like with. The control is all with the developer. This is a stunningly anti-user sentiment. * App stores take that control away, locking your app in a vendor-specific walled garden* This is another way of saying "app stores maintain quality control" -- something invaluable to people who are not web developers. Surely that's not better than the web? Maybe not for programmers. For users it's a godsend.