Yes, the TC is right and I completely agree, but we all know the reason for forcing users to install an app: retention, ARPU and other metrics grow for this audience, and push notifications also help with that.

Like you touched on, they're just trying to get you to make a small commitment to being in their walled garden and then they add on a bunch of other things

I trust the chrome sandbox and security more than a desktop or phone app.

ios Native App > web app > android app > anything made with a cross platform toolkit like react native or flutter.

I would much prefer a really well-crafted ios Native App with extensive attention to detail than anything, even a web app made with similar detail (in most cases). And also ios apps are far more likely to receive that level of attention than just about anything else.

The Politico website on Android has this issue. Can't login so can't read articles. Had to download app, but would prefer web page.

It's a waste of resources too. I've seen startups waste soooooo much time and effort on simple native apps that could trivially be webviews, it's tragic.

If the elevator was invented today, use of it would require an app which demands access to one’s contacts and microphone, and has a rating of 1.4 stars.

I at times wonder if my life would be easier if I were not so stubborn and just installed every app suggested along the way.

An app could offer a more stable identifier compared to an in-browser guest session which might have its cookies cleared.

Still holding my breath for the app that puts up a dialog on every launch asking "would you like to try our web version?"