As someone who doesn't do neither front-end nor back-end development I think this comment does the best job in this thread summarizing pitfalls I've observed as a user.
Although you probably (?) want to add that OS maintainers are slowly turning their repository of available OS-level applications into walled gardens, which I could see may push some developers to currently prefer web application implementations.
The web is the closest we have to an open universal platform. If you want the most bang for the buck as a business in developing widely accessible software, you build a website/webapp first.
Although you probably (?) want to add that OS maintainers are slowly turning their repository of available OS-level applications into walled gardens, which I could see may push some developers to currently prefer web application implementations.