Gambling App Wars: Apps vs. PWAs
The battle between WebView apps and PWAs started a few years ago, but it heated up just recently when WebView apps started facing one disaster after another. Webmasters split into two camps: some shifted their traffic to PWAs and learned to work with them, while others stuck with WebView, adapting to the new realities.
Each has its drawbacks and advantages, and today we are going to find out which one is better, WebView or PWA.
WebView’s big problem
Around a year ago, all sellers of WebView apps suddenly found themselves without any apps, and webmasters lost their source of income.
Nowadays, the arbitrage community has gotten better at adapting to new challenges but back then, nobody knew what to do because the usual way of running ad campaigns was no longer an option.
After a few weeks, the situation got better, but a few months later, another storm hit from Google Play, and it turned out to be even worse.
After that, WebView apps started living on borrowed time, lasting 3-4 days at best—often getting banned after just two days of active use. No matter how hard devs tried to find a way out of this situation, Google shattered all plans with another update. For webmasters, this means risking traffic loss if they don’t timely shift traffic from banned apps.
What’s wrong with PWA?
Websites that work with PWA apps aren’t as vulnerable to frequent bans like WebView, although domain bans from Facebook can still be a problem. What’s more challenging is to choose the right design. A big part of your launch success is about design. It directly influences whether the player will be interested in the app or not.
Getting started on PWA apps is doable for every newcomer. But getting started with high conversion rates is tricky. Pay close attention to choosing slots in your creatives, app design, and the casino landing page, so everything matches perfectly.
What’s great about WebView apps
- Higher conversion rates. Even if your PWA is perfect, the conversion on WebView will be better by 10-15%.
- WebView apps can be placed on official platforms, increasing views, downloads, and conversions. Users trust official platforms like Google Play more than its imitations.
- Wide range of traffic sources available—works with Google, In-App, ASO.
- A stable source where you know what to expect. You have an understanding of when the app might get banned, what design is needed for specific regions, and which players will install the app.
Why PWA apps is a good choice
- They won’t get blocked by Google Play moderators in a few days. If the domain gets banned, you can use the old design with a new domain and continue driving traffic.
- Creating your own PWA app takes just a few minutes and some technical know-how.
- PWA apps are lightweight, typically only a few megabytes, and can be downloaded by users in mere seconds.
- Creatives are less likely to leak into spy services with PWA apps, allowing for less frequent changes and less fear of your fresh creatives being stolen through WebView app bundles.
What’s the difference then?
Launching PWA and WebView apps involves different strategies for each traffic source. Plus, they might show varying conversion rates depending on where your users are located. Like, Tier-1 countries seem to work better with PWA according to many webmasters, but if you handle it right, PWA can still do their job well in Tier-3 geos.
There’s no 100% certainty when it comes to what’s better now and what will be better in a year. Habits and convenience play a bigger role, as some can’t do without launching on WebView, while others have switched to PWA and continue to drive similar traffic volumes, having forgotten everything about classic apps.
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All in all, time will tell. In perspective, PWAs might dominate the iGaming market for one simple reason—if the app gets banned, it’s removed from the user’s device. Some big advertisers have already stopped accepting traffic from Android views, but PWAs are being embraced with the same enthusiasm as iOS apps.
But if Google Play doesn’t undergo such significant changes, the battle between PWAs and WebViews will remain relevant for a very long time.