Web developers can rule the iPad

Alasdair Allan [2010-01-29 02:45 PM]

I think I've got to disagree. You only have to look at the newly re-written iWork applications optimised for multi-touch. That sort of interface simply couldn't be done with a web application...

A lot of applications on the iPhone are fairly simple, and that's okay. The amount of screen real-estate available means that presenting information in small chunks, simply, is actually a really good design choice.

That isn't going to cut it on the iPad. Developers are going to have to totally rethink their interface design. In fact I actually think desktop developers will have a much easier time of things than people coming in directly from the iPhone, or the web...

The killer apps on the iPhone will be applications that allow people to get things done, and those take advantage of the hardware.

When the iPhone SDK was introduced, there were a number of people that argued that it was actually a step backwards for developers. They felt that a Web-based application was good enough, better in fact, for various reasons than native applications.

By writing code specifically for the iPhone in Objective-C, you were making porting your application harder, and that porting a web application more-or-less consisted of simply restyling it using a new CSS template.

However users of the applications disagreed, and it’s arguable why this is the case, many of the reasons why developers believed web-based applications would be successful were actually seen as disadvantages by the users.

In the end it's not going to be us, the developers, that decide. Like the iPhone, it's going to be the users.

Brian LeRoux [2010-01-29 03:18 PM]

Open systems will always win in the long term! Of course, Apple has not limited their innovation to the native desktop. Webkit has been seeing steady (incredible) enhancement these past few years.

As a PhoneGap contributor/developer certainly I am biased!

Combining native access with HTML5 apis and the lines between desktop and web begins to blur. What we call hybrid today will be what we call the web at some point in the not-so-distant future.

Jonathan Stark [2010-01-29 03:23 PM]

Great post! (and thanks for the plug)

As the author of the "Building iPhone Apps" book linked to above, I'm clearly a huge fan of the web-based approach to mobile app development.

That said, I'm the first to admit - as Simon points out above - that the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript approach is not suitable for every app.

At the end of the day, developers have to decide for themselves which strategy is going to work the best for their app, and the overall goals of their business.

When I give presentations on this subject, I usually end with this quote:

"If you can build your app with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then you probably should."

It's still a pretty big generalization, but it seems to help folks who don't know quite where to start.

Thanks again, Simon!

Cheers,
j

Liza Daly [2010-01-29 06:03 PM]

Unfortunately, the new iPad emulator doesn't include Safari at all, so until the device comes out it's impossible for web developers to know what features are supported (I'm thinking specifically of bleeding-edge HTML5), or how they should best optimize their layouts.

Keith Fahlgren [2010-01-29 06:04 PM]

Shame the new 3.2 Beta SDK doesn't ship with Safari as part of the iPad Simulator, so there's no way to test web apps written in this style (without a lot of pain).

George Bray [2010-01-30 03:41 AM]

Create *native* iPhone, iPad apps using HTML, JS, CSS with Titanium

http://www.appcelerator.com/

steve [2010-01-30 08:20 AM]

I agree with trying to make apps easier to build and openness, but from a practicality/business standpoint, there's this:

If I want to charge for an application via my web designed site, users will have to input CC info. I have the extra work of processing CC info.

An iPhone app, a user just inputs his/her iTunes password and it's done.

Yes, Apple takes a percentage and it's hard to discern user behavior in the buying process - the question is whether the you lose more from the Apple cut or users who don't want the hassle of a buy cart process.

The iPad is less of a problem with the screen size, but I have to think in most cases, you'd get more purchases if the buying process is less of a headache.

Simon St.Laurent [2010-01-30 09:05 AM]

Steve - with PhoneGap (or Titanium, noted above), you can sell your HTML/CSS/JavaScript applications through the App Store if you want. They compile into applications. There's no need to handle your own credit card processing, unless you want to.

You can sell native and web applications the same way.

An author [2010-01-30 11:23 AM]

Since web connections aren't always there, I rather see developers focus on apps that wouldn't make sense on an iPhone but do make sense on an iPad. My own preference would be a version of that marvelous writer's application, Scrivener. It's developer is already getting besieged with requests for that but has had to plead off, not being a iPhone developer.

Keep in mind that if this follows the iPhone pattern, this could be a really big market.

Simon St.Laurent [2010-01-30 11:42 AM]

An author -

Again, the web connection doesn't have to be live for web-based apps to work on an iPhone or iPad. Once a web-based app is baked into an application for the App Store, you can use all those parts with the networking off. (Well, unless the app needs to call out to external resources, a problem that's the same for native apps.)

Even traditional web sites can make their pages cache on the iPhone and iPad, so they'll stick around when the network isn't available.

"Web connections aren't always there" is not a problem for web-based iPhone/iPad development.

Nick Bilton [2010-01-30 03:37 PM]

Great points here Simon. It's going to be interesting to see what people make with a standard size browser screen that's not variable. One of the iPhones success on the UI front has been consistency, the same will ring true for the iPad.

Billy [2010-01-30 09:17 PM]

@Allasdair,

Multi-Touch via web applications is already available. Silverlight made it possible in this case, but that's not to say another method wont be devised using other languages.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/02/ciplex-multi-touch-website-silverlight/

Justin [2010-01-30 09:31 PM]

Haven't developers been doing this for quite some time with flash? Of course, flash is specifically disabled on the iphone and ipad platform.

If what your advocating is more of a focus on web development then the ipad is irrelevant. It's not about any specific piece of hardware because if you are truly platform agnostic then hardware becomes a commodity which would make the ipad nothing more than an overpriced touchscreen, albeit a pretty one.

Simon St.Laurent [2010-01-31 05:32 AM]

Justin -

My point is that web developers can take the tools they already have and build applications for the iPad much more easily than the folks who think they need to use Objective C.

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript have become the de facto cross-platform development tools for these kinds of devices. They're a very natural fit for devices that allow users to consume media, as they've been doing that for years. Add the local storage and media support of HTML5, and it's not really a problem that Flash isn't supported on the iPhone and iPad.

And just to reiterate: it's easy to build apps you can sell through the App Store using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Those technologies now have a client-side life that isn't necessarily connected to a web server.

I see the iPad as an opportunity for web developers in particular to make money, because they already have almost all of the skills they need to build sellable applications.

steve [2010-01-31 06:19 AM]

Oy vey, I missed the one of the gists of your article, didn't I? I'll take a closer look into the mentioned products.

Daniel Asare [2010-01-31 06:28 AM]

the product and price is cool but i think iped will be out soon before i even finish exploring ipads controversial features..

Tomas Sancio [2010-02-01 01:19 PM]

Thanks to this article, I just bought Jonathan's book (the plug worked).

What I've seen is that unless an app really requires the native features unavailable to web development, the best bet for a team of developers is to work with skills that can more easily be transferred from one platform to the other. In this case, Javascript should be the first option.

Brent [2010-02-02 06:47 AM]

Awesome. Looking forward to ruling content with iPhone mobile web design. I knew out time had to come as long as we were patient. JQTouch rules and I'm looking forward trying PhoneGap and Appcelerator next.

The main problem that I see Apple did was not let enough people touch the iPad - forcing them to speculate and imagine. People thrash with that much freedom. Apple shoulda not announced with 2+ months left to go.

Thanks.
~brent

http://www.mobilewebkit.com

john [2010-02-15 12:33 PM]

"Arise, web developers! Our time has come to dominate!"

Yeah right, if the entire world buys an ipad.

I love mac fanboys and people who think the world runs only on a mac.

Steven Gulie [2010-03-03 10:04 PM]

Liza Daly wrote:
Unfortunately, the new iPad emulator doesn't include Safari at all, so until the device comes out it's impossible for web developers to know what features are supported (I'm thinking specifically of bleeding-edge HTML5), or how they should best optimize their layouts.

Not true. Download iPhone SDK, launch iPhone simulator, change to iPad in Hardware menu. Safari is there, and works with HTML5 audio and video tags as it should on the actual device.

mike [2010-05-30 10:51 AM]

hi!

I agree with what you've said. I wish I am a web developer because I have lots of ideas now how to make use of the ipad with grea apps.

like these websites:

business insider
ipad reviews