Is it OK , from a product perspective, to write an iPhone app completely in WebView?

Question

This just saves time. Since I already have a web applciation.

I can just stick it inside a webview.

The question is: Does it turn off many users? How many users will be disgusted that the entire iPhone app is written in WebView?

Answer 1

The answer is almost certainly "no". People care far more about the usability and experience of interacting with your application than what API-supplied widget you use to render it.

Answer 2

I think it's pretty safe to say that most iPhone users are expecting apps to use the power of the iPhone, not just be a portal to a mobile website.

Think about facebook mobile compared to iPhone facebook app. If you're an iPhone user, I'm assuming you'd much rather use the app than a mobile version of the site (or mobile version of the site contained in a WebView in a an app).

That being said, depending on your app, if the mobile version of your app is highly usable, it could be okay...

Just my thoughts...

Answer 3

John Gruber on Daring Fireball just wrote about this today.

From a usability perspective, native apps usually feel better. They may also be more responsive and handle large amounts of data more gracefully. I have a few so-called "apps" on my devices which are just glorified Web apps, and they don't necessarily scream quality.

If you've already done your app, then just ship it. But keep your mind open to feedback from your users.

Answer 4

I read Apple has begun removing apps that are like this. Well technically, they remove apps they think could be easily implemented as a webapp instead. Yours obviously qualifies ;)

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/07/apple-cookie-cutter-apps/

EDIT: Apple seems to not mind, according to the Human Interface Guidelines:

If you have a webpage or web application, you might choose to use a web view to implement a simple iPhone application that provides a wrapper for it.

Of course, Apple has a tendency to contradict themselves. ;)

Answer 5

Apple human interface guidelines says this isn't even allowed. I forget where it comes from, but somewhere in the guideline it says apps that are only web views are not allowed. I'm about 95% sure I've seen this. Can anyone confirm?