

Boilerplate for turning a mobile website into an iPhone app - nfrmn
http://github.com/nabilfreeman/ios-universal-webview-boilerplate

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yid
Isn't this exactly what Cordova does? You mention "so you don't have to use
Cordova", but you don't mention what the advantages are.

~~~
icefox
When I looked at Cordova it was a complete mess and pain to deal with. The
docs where confusing and out of date. I just needed a simple x-code project,
not a kitchen sink that was installed in the attic for some reason.

~~~
gpmcadam
Setup:

    
    
        npm install -g cordova
        cordova create HelloWorld
        cordova platform add [ios|android|wp8|..]
        

Running:

    
    
        cordova serve # browser
        cordova emulate [ios|android|wp8|..] # emulation
    

This has always been pretty straightforward to me, it's a bit of an extra pain
to debug iOS development on a non-OSX machine, but that's true of the parent
link, too.

What's been a complete mess to deal with for you? And how long ago did you
last use Cordova?

~~~
icefox
Looking at the doc page I have no real clue I would get to what you did.

[http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/5.0.0/](http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/5.0.0/)

Granted when I looked at the docs it was a while ago and much worse, but still
it wants to teach you everything before letting you see something.

~~~
gpmcadam
I would start at the home page, instead.

    
    
      1. http://cordova.apache.org/
      2. Click 'Download'
      3. Click the link in "[For the] npm version see the Command-Line Interface section [..]"
    

There's the same set of instructions listed in my comment above.

[http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/5.0.0//guide_cli_index.md....](http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/5.0.0//guide_cli_index.md.html#The%20Command-
Line%20Interface)

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Animats
Now for a program to turn iPhone apps into web pages. Immediate download! No
app store! No space tied up on your phone! Searchable with Google!

~~~
coldtea
Slowed rendering! Lower responsiveness! Non-native controls widgets! No good
way to monetize them! Not able to take advantage of all native APIs! Can't use
offline except with the limited storage APIs! Worse battery performance for
demanding code!

~~~
nfrmn
...For now. You should have a play with a Chromebook, Web software is
incredible when the hardware / APIs are there :)

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ivan_ah
Thank you!

I've been waiting for so long for something simple like this to popup. Bonus
points for also making an Android version:
[https://github.com/nabilfreeman/android-webview-
boilerplate](https://github.com/nabilfreeman/android-webview-boilerplate)

~~~
nfrmn
No problem! I've forked the Android version from somebody else on Github and
haven't made many changes to it yet, so the credit for that one should go to
[http://github.com/slymax](http://github.com/slymax).

I plan to make an Android one as simple as this. Google are working hard to
make development easier but it's still a very poor experience compared to
Xcode.

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bdcravens
As this simply wraps a web view, and doesn't really add anything more than
what Safari does, isn't the odds of it ever being accepted by the App Store
very small?

Cordova apps are accepted because they do have an API into phone functions.

~~~
colinbartlett
First app I ever built was a Cordova-based database of visa requirements for
US Citizens. You could find a country by Name or see all countries that you
could visit without a visa or with instant visa at the border.

I had dreams of using it myself when wandering the world without a local
internet connection and seeing where I wanted to fly to next.

Apple rejected it saying it was nothing more than a web page wrapped in an
app.

~~~
timpark
If you build it in Ionic (which was built on top of Cordova), you can get it
onto the device via Ionic View. [http://view.ionic.io/](http://view.ionic.io/)

There may be other solutions, but this is what I'm currently familiar/playing
with.

