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Google Launches Cordova Powered Chrome Apps For Android and iOS

Posted by Unknown on from the breaking-free dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google has launched Chrome apps for Android and iOS. The company is offering an early developer preview of a toolchain based on Apache Cordova, an open-source mobile development framework for building native mobile apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Developers can use the tool to wrap their Chrome app with a native application shell that enables them to distribute it via Google Play and Apple's App Store."

12 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Useful for developers by Terry+Pearson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As a developer, I can see the usefulness of this. This makes me consider developing Chrome apps where previously I had not considered it. Usually, we have to choose our platforms based on our projected return and our limited time. This usually means that only Android and IOS are supported. Given that one could kill two birds with one stone, and have a bonus of Chrome apps, it may be worth checking out.

    1. Re:Useful for developers by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      As a developer, I can see the usefulness of this. This makes me consider developing Chrome apps where previously I had not considered it. Usually, we have to choose our platforms based on our projected return and our limited time. This usually means that only Android and IOS are supported. Given that one could kill two birds with one stone, and have a bonus of Chrome apps, it may be worth checking out.

      I think the key will be the capabilities. If you can write apps that are nearly as rich as the native apps and performant enough for the application then I agree - the question will be "why not develop for Chrome and deploy on all platforms".

    2. Re:Useful for developers by CastrTroy · · Score: 2

      I like the idea of a common toolchain to produce apps on many different platforms, but personally I think HTML+CSS+JS is going down the wrong path. It will probably allow you to to hammer out simple apps quite quickly, but it will probably fall apart when doing something more complex. It isn't even Object Oriented (yes you can kind of make classes/objects by adding properties and functions to other functions, but it doesn't support things like inheritance). Personally, I wish that projects like this would try to do the same in Java, .Net, Python, C++, or anything other. The only company that seems to be looking into this seriously is Xamarin, which offers a single toolchain that lets you deploy on iOS, OSX, Android, and Windows (phone/RT/Desktop). They are a little pricy, but then again, they are the only game out there it seems.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:Useful for developers by ducomputergeek · · Score: 2

      As someone who has been using PhoneGAP/Cordova for about 3 years now it really depends on what the app has to do.

      There was a rush a few years ago that a lot of my clients "wanted an app". Oftentimes all this app had to do was pull RSS feeds + add push notifications. For simple apps like that HTML5/JS/CSS/Cordova works great.

      However when you start getting beyond simple "Feed & Form" Apps and need to more complex things. For instance, I had a client that wanted an app that needed a decibel meter. That had to be written in native code. While I could access the microphone I couldn't get more information beyond that.

      --
      "The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
  2. Cordova - for apps of fine craftsmanship... by RevWaldo · · Score: 2

    ...with the feel of its rich Corinthian API.

    .

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  3. Re:If the Shoe Fits by stoolpigeon · · Score: 2

    This makes me wonder if anyone who has worked with PhoneGap has also worked just with Cordova and if what PhoneGap brings makes it worth it?

    And would this mean that the google toolchain is basically another PhoneGap type tool?

    If it's not obvious - I don't know a ton about either but I'm interested as it seems to be one of the few ways to really knock out some simple apps for Android and iOS rather than writing Java and Objective C.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
  4. WTF? by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 2, Funny

    HTML and javascript to build a desktop app on a system with limited resources? Who broke into the mental hospital?

    --
    Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    1. Re:WTF? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

      HTML and javascript to build a desktop app on a system with limited resources? Who broke into the mental hospital?

      It depends on what your app does. This may not be a good choice for a 3D game. But it could work well for an app that lets you rate restaurants. Plenty of apps are not compute intensive.

    2. Re:WTF? by DickBreath · · Score: 2

      Yeah. Imagine trying to run HTML and Javascript apps on a limited system with only gigahertz, gigabytes and always on internet available. What would people in 1995 think?

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    3. Re:WTF? by femtobyte · · Score: 2

      What would people in 1995 think?

      Based on my memories of 1995, they'd think that the UI was far too low on blinking text and animated .gif bullet points to be useful.

  5. Re:Obscuring the point by tepples · · Score: 2

    the Operating System, whether it be Chrome or Windows or iOS or Android, doesn't matter in the least, so long as the browser is modern enough to handle HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

    The operating system matters, but only if three things are true:

    • The operating system refuses to run uncertified applications without an additional fee. This is true of, for example, iOS and game consoles.
    • The operating system's publisher refuses to certify any browser that implements certain web APIs, such as WebGL or getUserMedia or data uploads other than pictures or videos.
    • Your application cannot work without one of these features.

    For example, this brain visualization elicited complaints about inability to work around limitations of Safari for iOS. And last time I checked the App Store Review Guidelines, all web browsers for iOS had to be essentially Safari wrappers.

  6. Late to the party by CadentOrange · · Score: 2

    HTML5 was touted as the panacea of mobile app development back in 2012 (IIRC). The big news was when companies like Facebook and Linkedin migrated their iOS/Android apps to HTML5. Only problem is that the big name companies have since ditched their HTML5 mobile apps and gone back to using native APIs. They cite performance issues (apps running out of memory and stuttery animation) as the reasons for the switch. This is not just limited to the big companies, and others are leaving the HTML5 mobile app boat.

    Google seems a little late to the party.