PressNative

Category: Industry Insights

Trends shaping mobile publishing and content delivery

  • Why Progressive Web Apps Aren’t Enough for Publishers

    Why Progressive Web Apps Aren’t Enough for Publishers

    Progressive Web Apps were supposed to be the answer. A web page that acts like an app: installable, works offline, sends push notifications. The pitch was compelling. The reality for publishers has been disappointing.

    The PWA Promise

    When Google championed PWAs in 2015, the vision was clear: one codebase, no app store gatekeeping, automatic updates, and near-native performance. For developers, it was an appealing story. Build once, deploy everywhere.

    Where PWAs Fall Short for Publishers

    iOS support remains limited. Apple has been a reluctant participant in the PWA ecosystem. Safari’s service worker implementation is constrained, push notifications were only added to iOS PWAs in 2023 with significant limitations, and there’s no Add to Home Screen prompt — users must discover the option in a buried share sheet menu.

    No App Store presence. Your PWA doesn’t appear in the App Store or Google Play. This matters because the app stores are discovery channels. When a reader searches for your publication, finding a native app builds credibility. A PWA has no equivalent discovery path.

    Engagement gap. Studies consistently show PWAs have lower engagement metrics than native apps. Users treat them as “website shortcuts” rather than first-class apps. Push notification opt-in rates for PWAs are roughly 50% lower than for native apps.

    Performance ceiling. PWAs run in a browser engine. No matter how optimized your JavaScript is, you’re working within the constraints of a web renderer. Native apps built with Jetpack Compose and SwiftUI have direct access to the GPU, native scroll physics, and platform gesture systems. Users can feel the difference.

    When PWAs Make Sense

    PWAs are excellent for utility web apps: calculators, dashboards, tools. For content-heavy publisher sites where engagement, retention, and push notifications drive the business model, native apps deliver measurably better results.

    The Pragmatic Path

    You don’t need to choose one or the other in theory — but you should invest where the returns are highest. For publishers, that’s native. PressNative lets you get there without sacrificing your WordPress workflow or hiring a mobile development team.

  • The Hidden Cost of Not Having a Mobile App

    The Hidden Cost of Not Having a Mobile App

    When evaluating whether to launch a mobile app, publishers naturally focus on the cost of building one. But there’s a more important question: what is the cost of not having one?

    The Revenue You’re Not Earning

    App users generate more ad revenue per session than mobile web users. The combination of longer sessions, lower bounce rates, and higher ad viewability means publishers with apps see 2–4x the RPM (revenue per mille) on mobile app inventory compared to mobile web.

    For a site with 100,000 monthly mobile sessions, the difference between mobile web RPMs of $4 and app RPMs of $12 is $800/month — or $9,600/year in unrealized revenue.

    The Readers You’re Losing

    Without push notifications, you rely on readers remembering to visit your site, checking email, or seeing your social posts. Each of these channels has declining reach. Meanwhile, every day without an app is a day your most loyal readers are one algorithm change away from never seeing your content again.

    The Competitors Who Moved First

    In every niche, the first publisher to launch an app captures the “default” position on readers’ home screens. Once a reader has a news app, a recipe app, or a sports app they trust, the switching cost is real. Early movers in your niche are building an audience moat while you wait.

    The Brand Equity Gap

    Having an app in the App Store and Google Play signals legitimacy and investment in your audience. It’s the difference between a publication and a website. Readers, advertisers, and sponsors all perceive app-first publishers as more established and more serious.

    Doing the Math

    The cost of PressNative is a fraction of custom development. The cost of not having an app is measured in lost engagement, lost revenue, and lost audience — every month you wait.

    The best time to launch was last year. The second-best time is now.

  • The State of Mobile App Usage in 2026

    The State of Mobile App Usage in 2026

    Every year the story gets clearer: users spend more time in apps and less time in browsers. The 2026 data confirms the trend is accelerating, not plateauing.

    Key Statistics

    • App time vs. browser time: Users spend 88% of their mobile time in native apps, up from 85% in 2023
    • Average apps used daily: 9–10 apps, but users spend 90% of app time in their top 5
    • App downloads: Global downloads exceeded 250 billion in 2025
    • Mobile commerce: 73% of e-commerce transactions now happen on mobile, with apps converting 3x higher than mobile web

    What This Means for Publishers

    The numbers have a stark implication: if your content only exists in a browser, you’re competing for 12% of your readers’ mobile time. The other 88% is spent in native apps.

    This doesn’t mean browsers are dying. It means browsers have become a discovery channel — users find content via search or social, consume it once, and leave. Apps are where habitual, return-visit behavior lives.

    The Publisher App Gap

    Large publishers — The New York Times, ESPN, BBC — have long had native apps with millions of active users. But the vast majority of mid-size and independent publishers still rely exclusively on mobile web. The gap isn’t because their audiences don’t want apps. It’s because building a native app was historically too expensive.

    That cost barrier is disappearing. Platforms like PressNative make it possible for any WordPress publisher to have a native presence on the same app stores as the industry giants.

    The Engagement Divide

    Research consistently shows that app users are more engaged than mobile web users by every metric: session duration, pages per session, return visit rate, and conversion rate. For ad-supported publishers, this translates directly to revenue. For community-driven sites, it translates to loyalty.

    The question for publishers in 2026 isn’t “should we have an app?” It’s “how long can we afford not to?”

  • 5 Metrics That Prove Your Readers Want an App

    5 Metrics That Prove Your Readers Want an App

    The decision to launch a native app shouldn’t be based on a hunch. It should be based on data you already have. Here are five metrics from your existing WordPress analytics that signal your audience is ready for an app.

    1. Mobile Traffic Exceeds 50%

    Check your Google Analytics device breakdown. If more than half your sessions come from mobile devices, your audience is already choosing phones as their primary way to consume your content. They’re doing it in a browser because you haven’t given them an alternative.

    2. High Return Visit Rate

    If your returning visitor percentage is above 30%, you have loyal readers who come back repeatedly. These are your app’s first adopters. They’re already committed — an app just makes it easier for them to stay connected.

    3. Email List Engagement Is Declining

    Watch your email open rates over time. If they’re trending downward despite list growth, your audience isn’t disengaged — they’re shifting channels. Push notifications offer a higher-signal alternative to email for content alerts.

    4. Social Referral Traffic Is Unpredictable

    If your traffic from Facebook, Twitter/X, or Instagram swings wildly month to month, you’re at the mercy of algorithm changes. An app with push notifications gives you a direct channel you control, independent of any social platform’s business decisions.

    5. Mobile Bounce Rate Is Higher Than Desktop

    A meaningful gap between mobile and desktop bounce rates (more than 10 percentage points) suggests the mobile experience isn’t meeting user expectations. A native app typically reduces mobile bounce rates by 30–40% because the reading experience is dramatically better.

    What to Do With This Data

    If three or more of these signals are present, your audience is telling you something. They want your content on their terms — fast, native, and always accessible from their home screen. The question isn’t whether to launch an app. It’s how soon.