Just as a data point, the YouTube app on most TVs and devices is a stripped down browser only supporting exactly the HTML/CSS/JS needed to run the big picture client.
By tighter integration with the final product, the browser can provide specialized elements or APIs to simplify the actual application code.
By tighter integration with the final product, the browser can provide specialized elements or APIs to simplify the actual application code.
I think it's used a few other places as well.