This is all quite true because an app has changed from what we knew about "desktop applications" in the past.
nowadays:
1) it has to look good, and the web is a platfrom most ui/ux guys understand.
2) it has to provide a dead simple ui that conveniently solves a problem.
3) It doesn't have to support all of the features of the underlying desktop platform.
4) it probably must be have network connectivity, and therefore all of the quirks of network security.
The tens of millions of lines of c++ code called a browser are basically that infrastructure.
nowadays: 1) it has to look good, and the web is a platfrom most ui/ux guys understand. 2) it has to provide a dead simple ui that conveniently solves a problem. 3) It doesn't have to support all of the features of the underlying desktop platform. 4) it probably must be have network connectivity, and therefore all of the quirks of network security.
The tens of millions of lines of c++ code called a browser are basically that infrastructure.