What distinguishes native apps from web-based mobile applications?

Native apps are written for one operating system and tap its hardware directly; web-based apps run in a browser using standard Web APIs and a single codebase for everyone.

This is the core trade-off in mobile development, and it comes down to depth versus breadth.

Native mobile applications:

• Run exclusively on devices of one OS platform (you build an iOS version and an Android version).
• Use platform-specific APIs to reach hardware — camera, GPS, sensors — at full depth.
• Use device resources optimally, so performance is best.
• Built with Swift (iOS) or Kotlin / Java (Android).

Web-based mobile applications:

• Built with the classic web stack: HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
• Need a browser to run, so they cannot be true standalone apps.
• Use standardized Web APIs — e.g. the Geolocation API for position, the LocalStorage API for saving data in the browser — which expose less of the device than native APIs.
• One codebase serves every platform.

Bottom line: native buys you performance and full hardware access; web buys you "write once, run anywhere" and far cheaper maintenance.