hot take: the app is usually a better experience. the browser sucks for so many reasons.

that said, i refuse to download Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, and a few others, and i resent them for defacing their own site to try and force conversions. but if there is an app/company i really utilize, i prefer the app every time, from a UX perspective.

Agree with author. Its rarely better for you, its rarely done well. Its always more for the benefit of their engagement stats. Resist the marketing bullsheet!

The app might have better UI/UX because developers have more possibilities with native UI toolkits compared to a webapp running inside a browser. The app can also simply be better made than the website (or have more features), when the developers prioritize the app in that way and leave the website as a second-rate app (they don't need to do that but they might).

However, the app can harvest much more data from you (and your device) than a website can (although a website can also gather quite a bit). Plus, the app can lock you into a specific platform-specific ecosystem. For example if the app requires Google's DRM (Play Services Integrity), then the app will only run on Google-sanctioned Android variants, not anywhere else.

So there's pros and cons. Usually, the cons are more severe. A webapp is overall a bit less privacy invasive and truly works cross-platform and cross-device.