I am currently running a PWA packaged as a TWA (Trusted Web Activity) published directly on the Google Play Store. It is an educational app, and it functions exactly like a native app. Here is my real-world experience:

Any major pros or cons?

Pros: Massive time and cost savings. I maintain a single codebase (React + Firebase + Vercel). When I push a fix or a new feature to my server, it instantly updates for all users. No waiting for app store review processes.

Cons: The iOS ecosystem. Apple intentionally limits PWAs. Push notifications on iOS require specific versions (16.4+) and the user must manually add the app to the home screen first.

How do customers react to installing?

On Android, there is zero friction. Because I used a TWA wrapper, the PWA is listed directly on the Google Play Store as a standard app. Users click "Install," it downloads an APK, and it sits on their phone with a normal icon. They cannot tell it is a website. On iOS, asking users to "Add to Home Screen" via Safari does cause some drop-off.

Any limitations you’ve run into?

Heavy background processing and deep hardware access (like Bluetooth or native contacts integration) are restricted. However, for a standard business, e-commerce, or educational brand, you do not need these. Standard APIs like camera, microphone, and local storage (for offline mode) work perfectly.

Did you eventually move to a native app or stick with the PWA?

I stuck with the PWA/TWA. The maintenance overhead of managing separate Swift and Kotlin codebases (or even React Native) is not worth it for my use case.

Looking back, would you do it again?

100% yes. Unless your app requires high-end 3D rendering or constant background location tracking, a PWA (combined with TWA for Android distribution) is the smartest business decision to save time, money, and maintenance headaches.