HTML5 and App (one-two punch)?

Friday, January 29, 2010

HTML5 and App (one-two punch)?

I’ve got a dumb question and I’m sure a techie reading this blog can set me straight.

Why don’t developers who build HTML5-based iPhone apps (like the new HTML5 Google Voice app) also syndicate their apps in the App Store? The App Store version would just be an instance of the UIWebView Class on a canvas that displays only the HTML5 app. In other words, the App Store version is just a wrapper for the web version that essentially launches a separate browser just for your app.

It’s a bit hacky, but it allows the accessibility of HTML5 apps without sacrificing the distribution that comes with being listed in the App Store. So, why don’t we see more developers doing this?

[Note: Jon Steinberg wrote a nice post on this subject. I originally wrote this piece as a comment on that post. It didn’t get answered there, so I’m upgraded it to a post here.]