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I was a little disappointed when I read this tidbit in the article: "The only add-on software Apple is allowing will be Web-based programs that must be accessed

I was a little disappointed when I read this tidbit in the article: "The only add-on software Apple is allowing will be Web-based programs that must be accessed through the on-board Web browser. The company says these can be made to look just like built-in programs, but the few we tried weren't impressive." Is this a comment on the particular apps Walt saw, or is it a sign that the iPhone won't be a good 3rd party platform?

nickb 19y ago
The only way to create apps for an iPhone, for now at least, is through the web standards. Frankly, I don't mind this at all since our app is a web app and we don't need access to local resources. From what we managed to figure out on our own, the key is to make sure your app works well in Safari (duh!) and to make sure you optimize fonts and layout for iPhone's resolution 480x320 (it has a very high DPI count though). We made a custom CSS for an iPhone for our "Edit" screen. Also, to make it easy to zoom in on certain portions, iPhone's Safari is zooming in on individual DIVs so splitting your front page into more DIVs sounds like a great thing.... you won't notice this on regular browser but it will allow you to have a nice zoom on an iPhone. PS: We're more excited about this than about F8 platform. First few apps that come out with "support" for iPhone will get a lot of free publicity and a lot of users.
- leoc 19y ago
  "From what we managed to figure out on our own, the key is to make sure your app works well in Safari (duh!) and to make sure you optimize fonts and layout for iPhone's resolution 480x320 (it has a very high DPI count though)." It seems the slowness of AT&T's EDGE network will be a big constraint too. 100s for the Amazon.com homepage to load, 2 minutes for yahoo.com, according to the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html
palish 19y ago
From what I can tell, a lot of people are a tad confused by the fact that you have to use Javascript to interface with the iPhone.. A lot might think that it's a crippled interface. But Apple can expose every single part of the phone to Javascript. Add in the ability to create an icon on the iPhone that automatically visits a website, and you have, for all intents and purposes, a native application running on the iPhone. So I'm not sure why people feel that it's a crippled platform. Now, if Apple doesn't expose every single part of the iPhone to Javascript, then that's a little annoying. But then again, I wouldn't want a random web application to be able to take a picture and upload it whenever it felt like.
- Psyonic 19y ago
  The only problem with that idea is performance. Javascript the language is not necessarily slow, but almost all modern implementations are. I suppose the saving grace is that multitasking isn't exactly common on a phone, but even still I can see it being a problem. What about games, for example? Anything beyond Sudoku is going to have problems.
- wmorein 19y ago
  I think the biggest problem with this hope is security -- whatever you expose in the api will be available to any arbitrary web site you visit. They can't expose contacts and other private info without major problems. There might be some ways around this (e.g. asking for permission, trusting certain sites) but it is hard to see how this will be completely seamless as they want the experience to be.

nickb 19y ago

The only way to create apps for an iPhone, for now at least, is through the web standards. Frankly, I don't mind this at all since our app is a web app and we don't need access to local resources. From what we managed to figure out on our own, the key is to make sure your app works well in Safari (duh!) and to make sure you optimize fonts and layout for iPhone's resolution 480x320 (it has a very high DPI count though). We made a custom CSS for an iPhone for our "Edit" screen. Also, to make it easy to zoom in on certain portions, iPhone's Safari is zooming in on individual DIVs so splitting your front page into more DIVs sounds like a great thing.... you won't notice this on regular browser but it will allow you to have a nice zoom on an iPhone. PS: We're more excited about this than about F8 platform. First few apps that come out with "support" for iPhone will get a lot of free publicity and a lot of users.

leoc 19y ago
"From what we managed to figure out on our own, the key is to make sure your app works well in Safari (duh!) and to make sure you optimize fonts and layout for iPhone's resolution 480x320 (it has a very high DPI count though)." It seems the slowness of AT&T's EDGE network will be a big constraint too. 100s for the Amazon.com homepage to load, 2 minutes for yahoo.com, according to the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html

palish 19y ago

From what I can tell, a lot of people are a tad confused by the fact that you have to use Javascript to interface with the iPhone.. A lot might think that it's a crippled interface. But Apple can expose every single part of the phone to Javascript. Add in the ability to create an icon on the iPhone that automatically visits a website, and you have, for all intents and purposes, a native application running on the iPhone. So I'm not sure why people feel that it's a crippled platform. Now, if Apple doesn't expose every single part of the iPhone to Javascript, then that's a little annoying. But then again, I wouldn't want a random web application to be able to take a picture and upload it whenever it felt like.

Psyonic 19y ago
The only problem with that idea is performance. Javascript the language is not necessarily slow, but almost all modern implementations are. I suppose the saving grace is that multitasking isn't exactly common on a phone, but even still I can see it being a problem. What about games, for example? Anything beyond Sudoku is going to have problems.
wmorein 19y ago
I think the biggest problem with this hope is security -- whatever you expose in the api will be available to any arbitrary web site you visit. They can't expose contacts and other private info without major problems. There might be some ways around this (e.g. asking for permission, trusting certain sites) but it is hard to see how this will be completely seamless as they want the experience to be.