Android, Iphone app with JS and HTML

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Android, Iphone app with JS and HTML

Hi, I have read some post about apps programming for Iphone and Android, but I have one question. Is it posible when there is a mobile website optimized for mobile phones, that I can create apps for Iphone, Android, Win 7 and Blackberry, that only statrts the browser as instance and display the mobile website? What do you think, is this ok? Do you have any ideas or examples for that kind of apps? I mean this is not an app, that should be has access to the hardware of the phone, only web app.

Thanks Nik

It's not only possible, such things are already done. One example I know of is cookd, a restaurant guide for Vienna. But there are some constraints; for example, cookd requires GPS data for the "Nearby" option; on my Android phone (HTC Legend), this is possible when I open the web page directly in the browser (the browser asks if I want to allow cookd.com to get this info); but the same webpage, running in an application that does nothing more than display the browser component, cannot do that. To fix that, they would have to build GPS reception into the app and forward this info to the browser component.

ammoQ 2010-08-27 07:59:25

+1 A:

This would work. You could create an app that consists merely of a webview into which you load your content. The content could be loaded over the mobile network or be stored locally.

However most users (including yours truly) strongly dislike apps that merely present a single website to the user, because of the long delays if the content is loaded over the mobile network every time and because the UI is, in many cases, very different to what the he or she is used to from native apps.

Most users fail to see the need for a specialized app just to visit a website which they could as well keep as a favorite in their mobile browser. On the iPhone, you may even add favorite websites as icons on your homescreen, so there is no need for apps presenting a single website at all.

Toastor 2010-08-27 08:00:06

Using frameworks like SenchaTouch, you app can look very much like a native application.

ammoQ 2010-08-27 08:06:45

Yeah, well, almost. You could still tell the difference though and that's the kind of thing that annoys me when I paid for an app. Often it feels like the developers tried to cheat or at least get away cheaply with their app, not deeming it necessary to learn what it takes to create or port their app properly. Maybe I'm a bit squeamish here, but that's how I see things and many people I know share my opinion... :)

Toastor 2010-08-27 09:15:10

O'reilly has a fantastic article about this:

http://building-iphone-apps.labs.oreilly.com/

This is a little bit directed to iPhone only, but will give you a good overview about the topic and possibilities.

yan.kun 2010-08-27 08:07:34

Yes I have see the book. I have tried the appcelerator too. It looks very good, BUT I am on Linux and I can't install the Iphone SDK. Does anyone has an tutorial, how to create Iphone apps on Linux (Ubuntu 9.10)? For Android it's not a problem. I have installed it and make some tests. It looks great ;-)

Nik 2010-08-27 10:22:36

I'm very afraid of Appcelerator, as nearly any event on the ui makes a call to appcelerators company webserver. Tried it only a short time and them became paranoid :)

yan.kun 2010-08-27 12:07:50

You can't create native iOS apps for the App store (directly) under Linux. You need something (an Intel Mac) that's running Mac OS X 10.6.

hotpaw2 2010-08-27 15:36:43

ansaurus

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Android, Iphone app with JS and HTML

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