I'd like to make use of appcache in my native application on the iPhone. Though Mobile Safari supports appcache it seems that the UIWebView that you can embed in an application does not.
I know with a bit of work, I could simulate some sort of appcache like functionality in my application, but this isn't good enough - I'd like access to the same appcache that Mobile Safari uses.
I'd be willing to use some of the Private Frameworks in the iPhone SDK, as getting this working is a much higher priority than being able to submit to the app store.
Thanks!
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Could somebody list some things that you can do using native iPhone/iPad development but you can't using HTML5? I want to understand for what kind of apps is HTML5 usefull. I like it because it is an open technology which you can reuse to target other mobiles like android. I remember Steve Jobs said HTML5 is the future but I want to understand hat are it's limitations
The main difference I guess is that with an HTML5 app you don't have access to the native APIs and access to onboard devices (like the accelerometer, camera, etc.).
If you use something like Phonegap though you can have the best of both worlds.
I have seen a blog which claims that we can develop iPhone applications in HTML5. Untill then I was aware about Objective-C on Mac.
Can we develop an interface with backend support application in HTML5 on iPhone? Will it be secure and scalable?
If HTML5 is a markup language, then how can I make conditional statements in it? Would it be via jQuery or Javascript?
Which IDE should I use to develop an iPhone app in HTML5?
A great place to start when developing an iPhone app in HTML5 is PhoneGap.
You could either go the full-blown app route by developing an iOS app using PhoneGap, or only selecting certain tools/frameworks to help build a web-based app for mobile devices.
And very much like how it works with websites, HTML is used for the structure, CSS for presentation and JavaScript for behaviour. So yes, JS is used for conditional statements, etc.
Yes.
You can develop an HTML5/CSS3/Javascript app, then wrap it in PhoneGap or Apache Cordova to make it native and put it in the App Store (or Android Market...), as well as publish it on the web. You can do this with whatever tools you're comfortable with.
Using a tool like PhoneGap has many benefits over browser-based Mobile Web Apps, such as allowing you to parse iPhone contacts and access the local hardware.
It's great in combination with jQuery Mobile, but since performance is a MAJOR issue you must be very cautious to really streamline your images, CSS, and Javascript.
See this link to learn more about Mobile Frameworks.
I have seen a blog which claims that we can develop iPhone applications in HTML5. Untill then I was aware about Objective-C on Mac.
If you want to write a native iPhone application, then Objective-C is your only option. However, as the iPhone’s web browser has a lot of capabilities (e.g. offline caching), you can develop applications that run in its web browser, as opposed to natively. They can’t access all the features of the iPhone, and they are simply websites (so you need a server to serve them), but before the iPhone SDK was released, Steve Jobs himself described web apps as the way to write software for the iPhone.
Can we develop an interface with backend support application in HTML5 on iPhone? Will it be secure and scalable?
I have no idea what that means.
If HTML5 is a markup language, then how can I make conditional statements in it? Would it be via jQuery or Javascript?
Correct: JavaScript. (jQuery is just a JavaScript framework, and it’s probably a bit heavy to use on current iPhones.)
The HTML5 spec blurs the distinction between HTML and JavaScript by defining the DOM interface for the HTML elements it specifies, and defining new DOM features (e.g. offline caching) that aren’t technically part of HTML. Apple (and other people) have further blurred the term “HTML5” by using it to encompass various CSS features like animations and transforms, which you’ll probably find very useful for making web apps feel more like native apps.
I have a software that eventually will have some reports to be accessed via iPhone.
Once I am not willing to develop an iPhone app, I´d like to make these reports accessible via iPhone Safari browsers.
GMail in iPad uses HTML 5, so I guess I can do the same.
My question is where can I find some resources to learn best practices doing so and how can I test it in a PC computer.
Thanks
Here is a similar answer I've given: Exclusive CSS for iPhone/Android
For testing you can use Chrome or Safari, as they are both webkit browsers (which is what the iPhone uses). Safari can even render as the iPhone user agent.
Hope this helps.
Please take a look at PhoneGap, I think that is what you are looking for.
You can emulate the program in xCode, but you will need an Apple for that. For PhoneGap also..
From the app architecture view-point you should also consider introducing app-specific optimization such us:
Simplify the app (show only what you need for mobile)
Minimize Application and Data Size
Aggregate Images into a Single Composite Resource (Sprites)
Include Background Images Inline in CSS Style Sheets
Keep DOM Size Reasonable
Ensure Paragraph Text Flows
Avoid Redirects
For instance, could a web app access the mic on an iPhone and transmit voice back to a server?
Or is it possible to build Safari extensions for the iPhone that can operate transparently on a web page? For instance, is it possible to build an extension that removed ads from Google result pages for the iPhone, without the user clicking any buttons to activate the ad-removal functionality?
You pretty much hit the main limitations.
You have no access to hardware that's not supported by HTML5 (geolocation is, but things such as acceleration and audio/video recording are not).
You can't build Safari extensions for the iPhone at this time, you can only use JavaScript like usual.
Some frameworks like PhoneGap make attempts to provide more hardware features via a native app container, but it appears Apple is trying to prevent those apps from going on the App Store, to some extent.
I'm building an asp.net web application for an iphone using jQtouch. How can I read the device serial number from asp.net mvc?
In short, I don't think you can get the device ID through iPhone Safari.
iPhone Safari, like any other browsers, works in a black-box model and only let through a selective set of information about the system, such as geo-location and device orientation. The Safari Web Content Guide by Apple documents several features specific to Mobile Safari.
A lot of the API's like JQTouch are interacting more and more with the device itself with things like geo-location etc. When I need to get more into the device and hardware I use tools like PhoneGap that allow you to work directly with the device like a native app (almost) still using javascript to do this. PhoneGap opens up the device functions to embed in your web page to leverage in your application. The catch is it is still a web site, but is now an application and must be added to the device through the likes of the app store or market etc.
You can read more at www.phonegap.com . I have had good luck with it so far combining JQTouch and PhoneGap.