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This is a great resource and I'm glad Majd wrote it. However, this is really the kind of content that should be coming out of Google itself. Google is in an in

by tomdale 14y ago

This is a great resource and I'm glad Majd wrote it. However, this is really the kind of content that should be coming out of Google itself. Google is in an interesting position. Of all of the major Silicon Valley tech companies, I think Google is the one most seen as the "web" company, and yet they've staked a lot of their future on Android. Android, instead of making the web a first-class citizen, has in fact set the mobile web back by years. While they should have worked to bring all of the strengths of the web to mobile devices, they decided to play the app game on Apple's terms and, IMO, have lost. Surely someone at Google realizes that killing the open web also kills the company's cash cow--search and related advertising--but based on their behavior it doesn't seem like it. My hope is that the Android wakes up and decides to make the web a priority again. In league with the Chrome team (some of the smartest people I've ever met), they could do wonders to make developing for the mobile web a joy instead of the disaster that it currently is. Google needs focus, and it needs its focus to be on the mobile web. Having great, unified documentation about building sophisticated web apps that competes with Apple's Developer Centers is a good start to doing so.

reddit_clone 14y ago
> a first-class citizen, has in fact set the mobile web back by years Steve Jobs started it. Everyone will follow it to the bitter end.
- mhurron 14y ago
  There's some revisionist history. When the iPhone was released, mobile apps were supposed to be HTML5 webapps. Developers cried for local apps. Apple responded to demand.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    The truth is likely somewhere in between. Apple probably anticipated the demand for native apps. But they weren't ready, business-wise if not technically, to build the SDK and App Store in 2007, so they held off on it for a year. Sometimes it's useful to pretend that what you were going to do all along was merely a concession to outside demand.
    - danssig 14y ago
      Steve Jobs said in the intro of the phone that the apps were "just the internet" or some such. Personally, when I heard that I just ignored the iPhone.
    - Joeri 14y ago
      The steve jobs bio documents how he was deadset against native apps, even after the iphone was released. Even apple has to listen to its customers / developers every now and then. The myth that apple's moves are all part of a big plan is just that.
Estragon 14y ago
> this is really the kind of content that should be coming > out of Google itself. What does this blog post do which the official docs don't? E.g., https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/scripts https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/sc...
wyck 14y ago
Here ya go, in video too (Google I/O) http://youtu.be/N8SS-rUEZPg http://youtu.be/N8SS-rUEZPg Also has a part on remote debugging which the article doesn't.
untog 14y ago
It's true- I've spent a lot of time developing HTML5-based apps (i.e. in a webview) and am already surprised at how much worse the Android web engine is than the iOS one. Google should be all over this (and with the release of Chrome of Android, perhaps they finally are) but it baffles me that it took this long. Meanwhile, it took Mozilla to create Boot To Gecko, a true web OS.
- monteslu 14y ago
  The Chrome beta on ICS is great, but it's only accessible to <4% of all android devices. ICS has been out for months, and the providers are completely dragging their feet on it. Chrome Beta needs to be backported to at least 2.3
  - untog 14y ago
    AFAIK it also doesn't make any difference to apps that use webviews. I mean, it's just as well- if you changed the underlying engine without notifying devs insanity would ensue. But it would be good to be able to set a flag that says "use the decent engine".
    - monteslu 14y ago
      You're correct. But no reason google couldn't add a ChromeWebView lib as part of the install of the new browser for PhoneGap to wrap.
      - nzonbi 14y ago
        Or google could integrate chrome web-apps/NaCL into android, as first class apps.
  - DavidAbrams 14y ago
    "ICS has been out for months, and the providers are completely dragging their feet on it." Can anyone explain why this is such a problem? Does Android not have a proper hardware abstraction layer or driver model that would allow OS updates immediately, as long as these layers remained compatible and a build existed for your processor family? Windows has supported disparate hardware configurations for many, many years. Yet, generally, you can run out and buy the new version and install it. Why can't Android do this (albeit with a version for each processor)?
mhansen 14y ago
Android, instead of making the web a first-class citizen, has in fact set the mobile web back by years. I don't know how you can come to this conclusion. Android has made an excellent mobile web browser available to over a quarter of a billion people. And how is the web not first-class? Google even started Web Intents to interoperate web apps with native apps.
- darklajid 14y ago
  You seem to expect different things than the GP (and me). A browser without decent SNI support, with broken XPATH support and really various shortcomings was outdated when it came out - and neglected afterwards.

by tomdale 14y ago

reddit_clone 14y ago

> a first-class citizen, has in fact set the mobile web back by years Steve Jobs started it. Everyone will follow it to the bitter end.

mhurron 14y ago
There's some revisionist history. When the iPhone was released, mobile apps were supposed to be HTML5 webapps. Developers cried for local apps. Apple responded to demand.
- philwelch 14y ago
  The truth is likely somewhere in between. Apple probably anticipated the demand for native apps. But they weren't ready, business-wise if not technically, to build the SDK and App Store in 2007, so they held off on it for a year. Sometimes it's useful to pretend that what you were going to do all along was merely a concession to outside demand.
  - danssig 14y ago
    Steve Jobs said in the intro of the phone that the apps were "just the internet" or some such. Personally, when I heard that I just ignored the iPhone.
  - Joeri 14y ago
    The steve jobs bio documents how he was deadset against native apps, even after the iphone was released. Even apple has to listen to its customers / developers every now and then. The myth that apple's moves are all part of a big plan is just that.

Estragon 14y ago

> this is really the kind of content that should be coming > out of Google itself. What does this blog post do which the official docs don't? E.g., https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/scripts https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/sc...

wyck 14y ago

Here ya go, in video too (Google I/O) http://youtu.be/N8SS-rUEZPg http://youtu.be/N8SS-rUEZPg Also has a part on remote debugging which the article doesn't.

untog 14y ago

It's true- I've spent a lot of time developing HTML5-based apps (i.e. in a webview) and am already surprised at how much worse the Android web engine is than the iOS one. Google should be all over this (and with the release of Chrome of Android, perhaps they finally are) but it baffles me that it took this long. Meanwhile, it took Mozilla to create Boot To Gecko, a true web OS.

monteslu 14y ago
The Chrome beta on ICS is great, but it's only accessible to <4% of all android devices. ICS has been out for months, and the providers are completely dragging their feet on it. Chrome Beta needs to be backported to at least 2.3
- untog 14y ago
  AFAIK it also doesn't make any difference to apps that use webviews. I mean, it's just as well- if you changed the underlying engine without notifying devs insanity would ensue. But it would be good to be able to set a flag that says "use the decent engine".
  - monteslu 14y ago
    You're correct. But no reason google couldn't add a ChromeWebView lib as part of the install of the new browser for PhoneGap to wrap.
    - nzonbi 14y ago
      Or google could integrate chrome web-apps/NaCL into android, as first class apps.
- DavidAbrams 14y ago
  "ICS has been out for months, and the providers are completely dragging their feet on it." Can anyone explain why this is such a problem? Does Android not have a proper hardware abstraction layer or driver model that would allow OS updates immediately, as long as these layers remained compatible and a build existed for your processor family? Windows has supported disparate hardware configurations for many, many years. Yet, generally, you can run out and buy the new version and install it. Why can't Android do this (albeit with a version for each processor)?

mhansen 14y ago

Android, instead of making the web a first-class citizen, has in fact set the mobile web back by years. I don't know how you can come to this conclusion. Android has made an excellent mobile web browser available to over a quarter of a billion people. And how is the web not first-class? Google even started Web Intents to interoperate web apps with native apps.

darklajid 14y ago
You seem to expect different things than the GP (and me). A browser without decent SNI support, with broken XPATH support and really various shortcomings was outdated when it came out - and neglected afterwards.