No they are (were) an actual native Android apps that install automatically without needing to go through Google play. They have a much tighter sandbox and restricted access to system APIs as a safety measure.
From a user experience level, yes it’s pretty similar, with the important difference that after fully loading the instant apps were supposed to work as native installed apps.
“Instant apps” = PWAs?
No they are (were) an actual native Android apps that install automatically without needing to go through Google play. They have a much tighter sandbox and restricted access to system APIs as a safety measure.
No, it was a feature that allowed “streaming” a real android app without needing to install it
Well I’ve never even heard of it so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it was unsuccessful.
So a Java Applet?
From a user experience level, yes it’s pretty similar, with the important difference that after fully loading the instant apps were supposed to work as native installed apps.