I'm no expert in Capacitor, but from what I understand, different goals.

Capacitor aims to give expose native functionality via runtimes and plugins. A kind of mixed web/native hybrid.

PWABuilder's aim is more limited in scope: to make PWAs great on iOS. We are not so much concerned about exposing native functionality, and more concerned about making PWA functionality work everywhere.

We address some of this in our iOS FAQs: https://blog.pwabuilder.com/docs/ios-faq

Just had a quick look and it seems you can achieve the same thing with Capacitor: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/web/progressive-web-apps

Still different goals there. You add Capacitor's JS runtime to your PWA then use plugins and other Capacitor-based capabilities.

PWABuilder's goal is more limited in scope: take your existing PWA, no changes, and publish to app stores.

For some folks, Capacitor will be the right answer. But we think there's value in making PWAs as-is run well on iOS.

Capacitor creator here: agreed that Capacitor absolutely could be used by the PWA Builder team to power this and still keep their goals/values in mind (we also have a connection through Justin at PWA Builder who was an old Ionic team member!)

I am going to chat w/ Judah about this, already have a convo on github

It has been really cool to watch the evolution from Apache PhoneGap -> Cordova -> Ionic -> Capacitor (where now Ionic is the UI component library)

I had strong negative experiences/opinions, all the way up until Capacitor. It's good tech and an undervalued option when compared to React Native.

Source: Have built mobile apps with PhoneGap, React Native, NativeScript, and Android.

I'm not a fan of React Native -- though my last experiences with it were many years ago so I'm sure much has changed.

Also I don't think most "native apps" need to be native apps. They want a place on the homescreen usually, not use of underlying hardware API's like accelerometers.

Most "native apps" should really be installable PWA's or using something like Capacitor IMO.

Appreciate the kind words! Capacitor is younger than anything on that list so it still has a ways to go in terms of market awareness, but the general reaction we see when devs try it out is very positive. When we explain to people that you can build a native iOS/Android/Web/Desktop app with your favorite web stack and existing web code in many cases, that's turning out to be pretty compelling. And, for people that tried Cordova in the past, Capacitor's DX is pretty dramatically different and improved.

I did just that when using capacitor (pointed it to my dist folder, good to go). What other steps do you think capacitor requires that PWA builder doesn't?

Capacitor is great! At the BBC, we significantly reduced the cost of producing apps for children by adopting Capacitor. We write one React PWA and ship it to the Play Store, iOS App Store, Amazon App store and Amazon Kids+ store. It's native integration helps with push notifications and also reliable persistent storage on device.

It's very encouraging to hear this. Most content business apps (incl. ours) would likely have similar underlying tech structure.

Would you mind sharing the app links and any documentation / blog posts to make the app efficient and approval process smooth.

Here's the medium post the BBC team put together last year. We're huge fans of what they've built! https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/shipping-progressi...

Can you accept in-app payments with Capacitor? Asking because I did not see it listed as an official plugin.

My goal is to create a simple kids app that can be monetized via monthly subscription. I can build a traditional website, but don't have much clue on the easiest way to also publish it as an app (both for iOS and Android). Any recommendation on how to go about it if my skill is web development?

Absolutely, you can do anything native in Capacitor. In this case we have a guide: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/guides/in-app-purchases

Awesome. Thanks.