Definition
A progressive web app (PWA) is a website built with capabilities that let it behave like an installed app: it can be added to the home screen, launch in a standalone window without browser chrome, work offline or on poor connections through a service worker cache, and (where the platform allows) send push notifications. It is delivered over the web, so there is no app-store submission, review or size limit, and updates ship instantly like any website change.
In iGaming, PWAs are widely used as a distribution route where native app-store gambling categories are restricted or unavailable. A licensed operator can offer a PWA that installs from its own site, giving players an app-like experience — icon, full-screen, fast repeat loads — without depending on Apple or Google approval, and media buyers can run web-to-app funnels that end in a PWA install rather than a store install.
In context
The trade-offs matter. PWAs on iOS have historically had weaker capabilities than on Android — limited or no push, storage caps, install prompts that are less prominent — though the gap narrows over time, so a PWA strategy has to account for uneven platform support.
Retention of a PWA install is generally lower than a native app but higher than a plain mobile web session, placing it between the two in the funnel economics. And because it is served from the operator's domain, a PWA depends on that domain remaining reachable — in markets with domain blocking, the mirror-domain problem applies to the PWA too.
For measurement, PWA installs and events are tracked through web analytics and the operator's own event pipeline rather than a mobile measurement partner's SDK, so attribution is more like web attribution than app attribution — no IDFA/GAID, reliance on click IDs and first-party identifiers. Buyers running to a PWA therefore model it as a high-intent web funnel with an install step, optimise to the on-site deposit event, and compare its blended cost per FTD against both the store-app route and the plain web route before deciding where to put budget.
Worked example
An operator in a market with no store gambling category ships a PWA from its main domain. Media buyers run TikTok traffic to a web-to-app funnel ending in the PWA install; blended cost per FTD is $58 on Android, between the (unavailable) store route and the plain web route at $71. When the main domain is blocked, the PWA link is swapped to the current mirror.
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