4 ms·
this is terrific. i'm baffled as to why google, msft, amzn, samsung and other device makers are not pushing harder to advance html5 and web apps as a way to att
by panabee 13y ago
this is terrific. i'm baffled as to why google, msft, amzn, samsung and other device makers are not pushing harder to advance html5 and web apps as a way to attract more devs and eventually loosen apple's stranglehold on the app economy.
why not offer direct access to mobile hardware and user information (e.g., mic, photos, contacts) through the device's native browser? they could mimic security restrictions of native apps and only permit access upon explicit approval (e.g., tap here to let site X access your camera and contacts). obviously, they can't wait for html5 standards, and would need to act on their own. but at least this would attract devs who want a web stack instead of forcing them to use the device's native language and the slower app approval process.
i'm not suggesting this will end apple's hegemony; it won't. devs will always build first for the platform where they can earn the highest ROI, which is usually the one with the most (profitable) users. yet minimizing barriers for devs to build, release, and test on a new platform would attract more devs and at least force apple's hand at maintaining web parity on ios devices.
are these companies afraid of undermining their own app stores? are mobile devices too slow still?
smart people run these companies. html5 is making some inroads, but there must be a reason why apple competitors are not pursuing this route more aggressively.
- camus 13y ago- "this is terrific. i'm baffled as to why google, msft, amzn, samsung and other device makers are not pushing harder to advance html5 and web apps as a way to attract more devs and eventually loosen apple's stranglehold on the app economy." Which is kind of a stupid thing to say since the Iphone does exactly that since its first version ,you can install webapps on your home screen and run them fullscreen, even before allowing developpers to build native apps. Developpers ASKED for native apps on the iphone. Anyway , do you really think that all the brands you cited dont want to be exactly where Apple is ? they are not interested in "sharing" the app economy. They want all of it and destroy the competition,just like Apple. - "yet minimizing barriers for devs to build, release, and test on a new platform would attract more devs and at least force apple's hand at maintaining web parity on ios devices." It's like the TESSEL stuff all over again. phone / embedded apps must have an higher engineering standard than desktop apps , because they run on limited hardware,with limited processing power and battery. if your iphone app takes to much memory the system will kill it , and rightfully so. And mobile OS dont work the same way. You want to program for the least common denominator ? that's what webapps are for, but I dont want a webapp to access my contacts.
- girvo 13y ago> but I dont want a webapp to access my contacts. I do, as long as there is permissions integration.
- cma 13y agoOnce they launched the App Store they started doing things like not allowing new performance features (javascript JITing) into webapps. ( they've since fixed it: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/06/ios-5-brings-nitro-speed-to-home-screen-web-apps/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/06/ios-5-brings-nitro-spee... )