

PhoneGap 1.0 Launches Today - tbassetto
http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/07/phonegap-1-0-launches-today.php

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clemesha
I'm really rooting for Phonegap. I really want to write apps written in
html5/css/javascript, but what is really need is "proof" that it is possible
to write a great app using these tools.

I've seen all the demos, and all the Phonegap apps in the App Store, but none
of them are "killer apps". They don't have many ratings, and the ones that do
have several ratings aren't so good. Hoping this changes soon.

~~~
mikeklaas
You don't need Phonegap to write apps in html5/css/javascript. We did it with
Zite using a WebUIView wrapped in a native app with a little bit of glue to
hold things together. Obviously it is a matter of opinion whether the
performance is on par with native, but I think it reaches about 95% of the
native experience on an iPad 2.

We did have to spend a significant about of time optimizing css transitions to
make it happen.

(It's highly and multitudinously rated, FWIW.)

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SeoxyS
Great, we now have another way of making crappy iPhone apps using JavaScript.
I can't speak as to the other platforms, but what the iPhone needs is _less_
low-quality apps, not more. Accessibility is not always a good thing.

Additionally, the idea that you can "write once, deploy everywhere" is
ludicrous. It has been disproved time and time again, as the market chooses
native apps over apps that have been crippled to the lower-common-denominator
of the range of platforms it supports.

~~~
untog
_> Additionally, the idea that you can "write once, deploy everywhere" is
ludicrous. It has been disproved time and time again, as the market chooses
native apps over apps that have been crippled to the lower-common-denominator
of the range of platforms it supports. _

I'd argue that it has been disproved time and time again because it hasn't
been done right. The ideal is native __UI __with platform independent
backends. I get that Android and iOS have different UI paradigms, but what's
going on behind the scenes is exactly the same in a lot of cases.

Appcelerator _sort of_ provides that, but last time I tried it, it made huge
bloated apps. Not good.

~~~
SeoxyS
The traditional way of doing that has been to write a low-level C library with
the core functionality, and write a native app for each platform that
leverages the library. This is how the best cross-platform apps are made.

I can see a bright future tho in JavaScript-based game engines, so long as
they're wrapped in a native app (written by a developer, not generated by an
SDK).

~~~
smackfu
Can you run a C library on Android?

~~~
SeoxyS
Yes. The Android NDK lets you write and use code in C / C++:

<http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html>

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untog
This is great news. I want to love PhoneGap, but I also want my apps to look
'native'. I wish it was easier to match up the two.

~~~
tbassetto
They are planning to add more native controls in future releases:
<http://wiki.phonegap.com/w/page/28291160/roadmap-planning>

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kapso
I like PhoneGap, but I like Appcelerator better simply because it creates
native apps vs most other cross-platform frameworks that do most of the UI
rendering inside a browser component/container. They do this by compiling the
framework code (i.e JavaScript) to Objective-C. And the apps created in
Appcelerator can be as visually impressive as the ones written in native
platform, this is because the framework gives you the ability to create native
UI components. Checkout wunderlist, they have used the framework to build
their iOS apps and Android app and its a really beautiful app.

They only support iOS and Android right now, that might not be a problem for
some, but honestly iOS and Android are the only relevant platforms for now.

But for folks who think cross-platform does not work and creates low quality
app should checkout Appcelerator. I think CNBC's latest app is also built
using this framework.

~~~
tannerburson
You're a bit off here. Appcelerator doesn't actually compile ANY javascript to
native code. They expose a device specific API via a proxy/bridge system they
call Kroll. They have a bunch of ObjC code that they then front with their
Kroll Proxy. They also have a small shim between their JS interpreter, and
Kroll on the other side.

So in effect any app you run on Appcelerator is still bound to the
characteristics of their chosen JS interpreter, AND the characteristics of
their proxy, AND lastly the performance of their native API.

It does provide a relatively simple path, to getting relatively simple apps up
and running with native widgets but not inherently native performance.

Disclaimer: I've only ever dug into the iOS source, I can't swear this is 100%
valid on other platforms.

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yalogin
So this is a competitor to Adobe then?

That makes me think Palm should get into this. It is a mostly JS based app
platform. They should make it cross platform. A very good way to make their
development tools attractive to devs and also help themselves in the process.

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sunsu
I've really been enjoying developing an app with Phonegap and Sencha Touch.
Sencha Touch has a pretty steep learning curve, but once you get it, its
pretty nice and you can put together a cross platform app REALLY quickly.

I plan on using Phonegap + Sencha touch to release first iterations of apps.
If the app looks like it is picking up steam in either the iOS or Android
markets, then I can decide to invest the time in making a native version.

~~~
tbassetto
I agree, you can build an app quickly. But Sencha Touch is painfully slow on
most Android phones and iPhone 3G + it's very hard to respect Android
guidelines :/ You can spot a Sencha Touch app on the Android Market quite
easily.

