a long time ago, at a conference, a guy from Google gave a talk about the cool new thing, "instant apps". Android apps that you don't need to install. just open them and start using right away! and it will only download the pages you open. crazy!
when the time for QA came, people formed a long queue to the mic. i was the first. i asked: "so, how is it different from web apps?". the minute i said it, almost everyone left the queue, muttering: "damn, that was my question".
i don't remember their exact answer because there wasn't really any. many years later, in December 2025, Google discontinued instant apps.
i think they were onto something. it's cool to be able to just use apps without installing them. it's just... we already have it.